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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that the standoff between India and China is not in the interest of either of them and the third party will take advantage of it.
Jaishankar said that he has given this message to China many times on a personal level.
Speaking on India-China relations at an event organized by the Asia Society in New York on Monday, Jaishankar said, "If you ask me, are relations better today compared to where we were in 2025? I would say, yes. Even more so if compared to 2024."
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar said, "Whatever happened in 2020 and the prolonged standoff on the border, had a huge impact on the relations. Once the standoff on the border was resolved, it was natural that relations would start improving. We have been saying to the Chinese for a long time, even personally I have said at my level that the standoff between us or the deterioration in relations is not in the interest of either of us. Third parties will take advantage of it. It took some time for the Chinese side to agree to this. It took time, whatever the reason."
He said, "But I don't think that the standoff that went on for so long was in our interest. It was certainly not in their interest either. We have seen that as the situation on the border is becoming normal, the relations are also becoming normal. If that happens, it benefits both of us."
Jaishankar said that this improvement in relations is a return to such relations which had "derailed to a great extent."
What signs of big change?
This comment of Jaishankar is being considered very important.
Geopolitical and international relations analyst Zorawar Dulat Singh has written on X, "Very important statement. While in recent years India and China have worked together on a practical level to control the standoff on their border, openly saying that the India-China conflict is in the interest of third parties, especially the US and Pakistan, signals a change in Indian policy.
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Jaishankar said this when Chinese President Xi Jinping returned from the White House last week. Trump was standing at the airport receiving Xi Jinping. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that relations between China and America will determine the direction of the 21st century.
This means that America also seems to be quite enthusiastic about improving relations with China. In this context, the decline in the warmth of relations between India and America can be easily understood.
On this comment of Mark Rubio, Stanley Johnny, international editor of the leading English newspaper The Hindu, has written, "Many people in India had assumed that during the competition between America and China for global supremacy in the 21st century, India can make itself useful as a strong support for America against China."
Stanley Johnny wrote, "Today America is competing with China, but it is not interested in confrontation. It wants to manage this competition and maintain such strategic stability, which is called strategic stability in Chinese strategic language. America also clearly does not want to help India create a third pole by giving strong support. America understands very well that the era of unipolarity is over.
“This G-2 approach is not just Trump's approach. Washington's policy-making system would prefer to prioritize bipolar competition with China, while viewing the rest of the countries as manageable power centers with small or limited influence. This effectively reduces India's importance in Washington's strategic thinking. Indians should pay attention to this.
Impact of relations between America and China on India
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Recently, former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran had said that there is no strategic stability between America and China, but a tactical tension can also have far-reaching effects on India.
This is because China sees India through the lens of America. At times when China has felt more comfortable in its relations with America, it has felt as if it has got a permit or an open path to put pressure on America's allies and partners in the region.
What impact does the relationship between America and China have on India?
The answer to this question was given by Tanvi Madan, Senior Fellow of the think tank Brookings Institution, in a conversation with Professor Shriram Chaulia in DD India's program 'Indian Diplomacy' on 26 September.
Tanvi Madan had said, "History is witness to the fact that whenever tensions between America and China reduce, China feels more free to increase pressure on its neighbors, especially India and Japan." India has never seen China only through the American lens. India has direct and independent relations with China. From the summer of 2024, India and China had started efforts to bring stability in mutual relations. India wants to focus on its economic growth and development and does not want a new crisis on the border.
Tanvi Madan had said, “Especially when one of your close partners, Russia, has an even closer friendship with China,
And your other close partner America is reducing tensions with China.
What is India's strategy?
India understands the importance and power of China very well. S Jaishankar was asked a question on 21st February in 2023 that why India does not behave strictly in the matter of China?
In response to this question, Jaishankar told Smita Prakash of news agency ANI, "That is a big economy. Do you think that we as a small economy should go to war with the big economy? The question is not for a strict answer but for common sense.
S. Jaishankar was India's Ambassador to China from 2009 to 2013 and he would understand China's power very well.
S. Jaishankar wants to say that it is not easy for the Indian economy of about $3.5 trillion to compete with the Chinese economy of about $18 trillion.
Jaishankar also knows that India is still largely dependent on Russia for its defense supplies and the war is not fought relying on anyone else.
Only last year, Trump had called India a dead economy. Trump's second term has been very difficult for India, whereas his generosity in the matter of China has been clearly visible. Trump's stance regarding Pakistan is also not in favor of India.
S Jaishankar has written in his book 'The India Way' that China has won many wars without fighting any war and America has been fighting many wars without winning any war.
However, American analysts still feel that despite Trump's strict policies, India should not trust China.
James Crabtree is a columnist for the American magazine Foreign Policy.
James had written an article in Foreign Policy on August 27 last year titled 'Why India should not fall into the trap of China and Russia'.
James Crabtree believes that Trump is changing the policies of the last two decades towards India. James had written, "For the last two decades, America has been thinking that the rise of India is in favor of America's long-term interest. Trump has abruptly abandoned this policy and is insisting on a trade deal for immediate benefits. This policy is self-harming because India's role is important to confront China.
James believes that India should take some responsibility on its shoulders in this difficult time. James had written, "India follows the policy of multi-alignment i.e. living with all the factions." This means that we have to maintain good relations with our Western partners and also maintain trust in relations with Putin. India does not want to distance itself from Iran either. During the Biden administration, America tolerated this policy of India and accepted its strategic importance. But Trump abandoned this policy.
