‘Partners, not rivals’: As Trump’s tariffs bite, India’s Modi and China’s Xi reset ties

‘Partners, not rivals’: As Trump’s tariffs bite, India's Modi and China's Xi reset ties [https://invezz.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sep_1.jpg] In the glittering port city of Tianjin, against the backdrop of a grand international summit overshadowed by the long shadow of American trade wars, a stunning and historic reversal has taken place. After years of simmering hostility, a bloody border dispute, and deep-seated mistrust, the leaders of the world’s two most populous nations, China and India, have publicly declared a new era of partnership, a calculated diplomatic pivot forged in a shared defiance of Washington. The landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) summit, was Modi’s first visit to China in seven years. The symbolism was as powerful as the substance. FROM HIMALAYAN PEAKS TO A HANDSHAKE OF PEACE This was not a meeting of old friends, but of recent adversaries. The relationship had been in a deep freeze since 2020, when deadly clashes between their troops erupted on their shared Himalayan border, leading to the suspension of all direct…