'Entirely of Washington's making': Expert on PM Modi's Beijing visit, drawing India closer to China, Russia
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'Entirely of Washington's making': Expert on PM Modi's Beijing visit, drawing India closer to China, Russia
The fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Beijing and held meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin was entirely of Washington’s making, said an expert. He said Donald Trump “kind of delivered Modi to Xi Jinping as a neatly wrapped gift”, indicating the thaw in the relations between New Delhi and Beijing.
David Lubin, Senior Research Fellow in the Global Economy and Finance Programme at Chatham House, said in an interview with UK’s radio station LBC, “It's entirely of Washington's making.” He was responding to a question about three nuclear power shoulder-to-shoulder, which must worry the US and Europe.
“I mean if you take the tariffs on their own, the tariffs that Trump imposed on India as a way of trying to convince India not to buy Russian oil, given the fact that China responded with such defiance to the tariffs that Trump put on China, it was always inconceivable that Modi could do anything other than act than respond with defiance himself. Otherwise Indian voters would be pointing at him saying ‘why does China have a leader that kind of confronts Donald Trump and we don't’,” he said.
Lubin said China established a template for aspiring great powers to respond to Trump. “The relationship between New Delhi and Washington had been deteriorating for some time not just because of the tariffs but also primarily because of Washington's kind of effort to cuddle up to Pakistan and so for all sorts of reasons Trump in effect kind of delivered Modi to Xi Jinping as a neatly wrapped gift,”
The expert said there was “not a lot more than symbolism” in the Modi-Putin-Xi Jinping meeting. “The idea of India forming any kind of military cooperation with China is beyond the pale,” said Lubin, calling it a symbolic win for Beijing, who wanted the support of the Global South.
PM Modi attended the SCO Summit in Beijing and met Xi Jinping and Putin together as well as for bilateral talks. Videos of them sharing a laugh at the sidelines of the summit have since gone viral. PM Modi also went to the bilateral talk venue with Putin, which also made headlines.
Indian Defense
