India and China are striving to reset relationships, but with caution

After years of border tensions, India and China seem to be gradually moving towards re -seizing relationships – but there are still greater challenges and communication.

The visit of two senior Indian officials to China at the end of last month was considered a sign of ice melting in bilateral relations.

In June, Indian National Security Adviser Agit Dofal and Defense Minister Rajnath Singh made separate visits as part of the Cooperation Organization meetings in Shanghai.

SCO is a European security group consisting of 10 members that also includes China, Russia, Iran and Pakistan. Singh’s visit was the first by a senior Indian official in China in five years.

In the heart Chinese Hindi tensions It is unlimited, 3440 km (2100 miles). Rivers, lakes, and behind the snow along the border means that the line often turns, bringing soldiers face to face at many points, sometimes raising skirmishes.

The crisis escalated June 2020 When the two forces clashed in the Gallowan Valley in Ladakh, while the first fatal confrontation between them since 1975 was a confrontation between the armies since then in several places.

But it seems that the geopolitical uncertainty and the facts of the earth have prompted the two sides to find a common ground in many issues.

Late last year, they reached an agreement on the main friction points in Ladakh.

In January, Delhi and Beijing agreed to restore direct flights and relax the visa restrictions imposed after Saddam in 2020.

In the same month, the Indian pilgrims were Permitted To visit Jabal Miqis, Kailash, and a sacred lake in the independent Tibet area after a six -year gap.

But experts point out that there are other obstacles.

For India, China is the second largest trading partner with a bilateral trade of more than $ 127 billion (93.4 billion pounds) last year. It depends greatly on Chinese imports, especially rare Earth minerals.

Peace in the border areas, therefore, is necessary to enhance economic relations.

With its increasing focus on Taiwan, Beijing wants peace in its borders in Himalayas with India – at the present time.

But at the strategic level, China suspects that Western countries are using India to balance its rise and its increasing impact.

Therefore, in addition to resolving the border conflict, Beijing wants improvements in other regions as well, as it hopes to confront the increasing dependence of the United States and its allies for security.

This includes more Chinese exports. Increased investments in India, and removing visa restrictions for Chinese engineers and workers. (India banned dozens of Chinese applications and imposed restrictions on Chinese investments in the wake of Saddam in 2020, noting security concerns).

Experts say that the changing fast political geography – especially in the United States since President Trump took over a second term in power – has also forced Delhi to reach China.

“India has believed it would be a very close strategic ally (from the United States), but they did not get the support they were expecting from Washington,” said Professor Christopher Clarri of Albanian University in New York.

during Modern border tensions With Pakistan’s arc competition in May, Delhi also witnessed the growing military cooperation between Beijing and Islamabad. Pakistan used Chinese combat aircraft, air defense systems and air missiles to the air in the four -day conflict.

In the wake of the conflict, Trump again and again Assure It has mediated between the two sides for a ceasefire.

This is the embarrassing Delhi that Insist She spoke directly with Pakistani officials to stop the fighting, and he strongly denies any third -party mediation.

Weeks later, Trump also hosted the Pakistani army commander Asim Monir for lunch at the White House, which caused Delhi’s dissatisfaction.

At the same time, the United States and India are also participating in feverish talks to reach a trade agreement. Trump has already threatened to impose a mutual tariff on many countries, including India, if a deal is not reached by August 1.

“Given President Trump’s statements about mediation between India and Pakistan and commercial talks, there is a feeling in Delhi that this is the time to reach countries like China,” Clary says.

Strategic experts argue that Washington views Delhi as increasingly against China. But given the inability to predict the American president, there are now doubts about Delhi about the extent to which the United States will go to support India in any future conflict with China.

Quartet security dialogue – Known as the quarter – occupy the involvement of the United States, Japan, Australia and India a rear seat during Trump’s second term.

“In recent years, China has also increased significantly from its influence in multilateral organizations such as Sco and Brics Prices of Ecluping Economies,” says Venechuk Stockman, a former Indian diplomat.

Thus, India takes a pragmatic approach, he says.

“At the same time, he does not want to look at many Chinese demands for local reasons.”

And not only the United States – India is also watching how Russia has been tending to its ally for a long time and the main arms resource towards Beijing because of the war with Ukraine.

Western sanctions increased in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from Moscow’s dependence on China for energy exports.

Moscow also depends on Beijing for critical imports and investments, which all made Delhi cautious about the Kremlin’s position in any future confrontation with China.

China also uses its industrial strength to pressure many countries that depend on its imports – countries like India feel that restrictions may affect their economic growth.

“China has recently used trade as a weapon against India, and decisive exports such as rare Earth magnets and fertilizers have been suspended. These measures can affect India and Agriculture sectors in India,” says Mr. Stockin.

The rare Earth magnet is very important for cars, home apparatus and clean energy sectors. China has imposed restrictions on its imports from April, asking companies to obtain permits.

Its Indian auto industry association to caution This production can be severely affected if the restrictions are not reduced soon. After these concerns, the Indian government said it is holding talks with Beijing.

Although China is keen to enhance business, it has not shown any signs of a compromise on its other regional conflicts with India.

In recent years, she has increasedly confirmed to her claim Throughout the state of Araunatchel Pradesh, in the northeast of the northeast, it is called by Beijing, south of Tibet.

Delhi confirms that Arunatche Pradesh is an integral part of the country and indicates that people in the country vote regularly in the elections to choose the state government and there is no room for any compromise.

“If China and India do not abandon the concept of sovereignty, it will continue to fight forever. If they can reach an agreement on the southern Tibet (or Arenashal Pradesh), the two countries will have eternal peace.”

At the present time, both Delhi and Beijing realize that their regional conflict cannot be resolved in the near future.

They seem to be ready to strike a useful working relationship, and they want to avoid tensions completely, rather than relying on any global support block for support.

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