New Delhi’s approach has gone from welcoming economic engagement with Beijing to containment to the latest calibrated reopening
4-MIN READ4-MIN ListenKeji MaoandYaxin MaoPublished: 5:30am, 1 Sep 2026As India prepares for the Brics summit less than two weeks away, relations with China are warming up. On July 22, Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi during the East Asia Summit; five days later, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited China. Last week, Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also visited Beijing, for border talks.But India remains deeply ambivalent when it comes to economic engagement with China: it seeks Chinese capital, technology and expertise while fearing the shocks they may bring. Justifying the latest economic engagement with China, Jaishankar said India’s long-term objective was to compete with China in manufacturing.After six years of sweeping curbs on Chinese investment, bilateral trade rose to US$151.1 billion in the financial year ended March 31. China remains India’s largest import source and has, after four years, displaced the United States as its top trading partner. India’s approach to engaging with China has evolved: from welcoming participation to containment after 2020 and, more recently, a calibrated reopening.
