Has Trump brought India and China together? The secret letter from XI to India suggests it

When US President Donald Trump intensified his trade war with China earlier this year, Beijing discreetly contacted New Delhi. According to a Bloomberg report citing an Indian official, Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a private letter to President Droupadi Murmu as part of this effort.

Although President Murmu addressed, the message was quickly sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. XI expressed his concerns concerning any American agreements of India which could harm the interests of China. He also appointed a provincial official who would supervise Beijing awareness, according to the report.

The letter, sent in March, marked the start of what is now like a new phase in the links in India China. An Indian official told Bloomberg that in June, Modi’s government began to take action to improve relations with Beijing, in part because trade discussions with Washington become hostile. In August, the two Asian neighbors agreed to push stronger to resolve their border dispute over several decades, even as memories of the deadly striker from 2020. This weekend, Modis will visit China for the first time in seven years.

Development could reshape regional policy. For decades, Washington built India as a counterweight to China. But Trump disrupted this approach by slapping 50% of Indian Exports on New Delhi’s Indian Exports Exports with Moscow. Ashley Tellis, a senior scholarship in Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Bloomberg: “Trump is indeed the great peacemaker, he deserves all the merit of having stimulated the emerging rapprochement between Delhi and Beijing. He managed to do it by treating India as an enemy. ”

From Xi’s letter, there has been a series of small but important movements:

• National security advisor Ajit Doval has visited China twice in recent months.

• The Minister of External Affairs, S. Jaishankar, went to Beijing in July, the first visit of this type in five years.

• Direct flights between the two countries could resume soon.

• India has restored tourist visas for Chinese nationals.

• China has attenuated the borders on the sending of fertilizers to India.

Trade links reopen. The Adani group explores a partnership with the manufacturer of Chinese electric vehicles byd, while Reliance and JSW also organize silent talks with Chinese companies.

Modi and Xi have met almost 20 times in the past. In 2017, Modi approached XI at a G20 summit in Germany to help defuse the dead end of the Doklam border. The Frank Exchange put an end to the 74 -day crisis in a few days. With Modi and XI which should meet again on September 1 at the Summit of the Shanghai cooperation organization in Tianjin, the observers watch closely for the signs of the distance that this thaw will go.

Despite progress, distrust persists. The support of China in Pakistan, tensions on Taiwan and questions about the succession of Dalai Lama remain major collage points. The two parties should move with caution, focusing on small steps rather than scanning agreements.