China, India seek better ties as US tariffs add uncertainty

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during a meeting, in New Delhi.

China and India want better relations, India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said, in the latest sign of a thaw between the Asian rivals as they push to normalize relations amid unpredictable US trade policies.

The remarks were made at a bilateral meeting between Jaishankar and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, who is visiting India for the first time in three years.

“Having seen a difficult period in our relationship” both nations “now seek to move ahead,” Jaishankar said in New Delhi on Monday. “Differences must not become disputes, nor competition conflict.”

Wang said that because “unilateral bullying is prevalent,” the two sides should “contribute to promoting the multipolarization of the world,” according to a statement from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. He added that China and India should “regard each other as partners and opportunities, not as opponents or threats.”

Wang will also meet Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to discuss the two countries’ border dispute before calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

Wang’s visit and meetings will set the tone for Chinese President Xi Jinping’s bilateral talks with Modi later this month on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. This will be Modi’s first visit to China in seven years.

Ties between the Asian neighbors deteriorated after a bloody border skirmish five years ago but relations have recently been on the mend. Beijing has loosened curbs on urea exports, New Delhi has reinstated tourist visas for Chinese nationals, while a growing number of Indian businesses have been seeking partnerships with Chinese companies for deals including technology transfers, Bloomberg News has reported.

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on both countries’ exports, as well as threats to penalize India for buying Russian oil, are adding urgency to normalize ties. Trump has slapped tariffs of 50% over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, a level that would decimate many Indian exporters.

Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro called India’s purchases of Russian oil “opportunistic and deeply corrosive” to efforts to halt Moscow’s war machine, in a Financial Times column Monday.

“Overall, it is our expectation that our discussions would contribute to building a stable, cooperative and forward-looking relationship between India and China,” Jaishankar said.