Xi Jinping Visits India After Seven Years, Raising New Hopes for Bilateral Relations

Photo: Collected

News Desk: After a gap of seven years, Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Delhi to attend the BRICS Summit. His visit is expected to help ease the diplomatic tensions between the two neighboring powers to some extent.

However, despite positive signals on the political front, the wall of distrust in trade and business between the two countries is unlikely to disappear immediately.

Relations between India and China deteriorated sharply, both politically and militarily, following the 2020 border conflict. However, recently, amid Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to China and the United States' unpredictable trade policies, the two countries have taken initiatives to repair their relations.

According to Delhi-based researcher Harsh Pant, China could use its economic strength to help overcome the significant trust deficit that has developed between the two countries. Meanwhile, Chinese analyst Lin Minwang believes that although China wants to improve relations, it is waiting to see how far India is prepared to make concessions.

Despite some improvement in political relations, both countries continue to exercise extreme caution at the economic level. Following the border conflict, India imposed restrictions on Chinese investment. Although limited concessions have recently been made in the electronics and renewable energy sectors, investment proposals from leading Chinese automakers BYD and Great Wall Motors remain stalled. India has also rejected an application to use China's Alipay service, citing security concerns.

In response, China has also imposed various restrictions on the export of technology and industrial machinery to India. Although the two countries have discussed easing visa procedures, Indian businesspeople continue to face delays in obtaining Chinese visas, while essential Chinese heavy machinery needed for solar panels and infrastructure projects is being held up at customs.

Expert Ajay Srivastava said this was not merely an administrative complication, but rather a political strategy aimed at ensuring that India remains technologically dependent on China.

However, former Indian trade officials are hopeful that a positive bilateral meeting between Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping during Xi's current visit to Delhi could ease some of these trade-related complications.