PM Modi to resume direct flights to China
PM Modi to resume direct flights to China
PM Modi is edging near to the BRICS countries after US President Donald Trump hit the South Asian nation with a 50% tariff.
PM Modi’s latest move is to commence direct flights with China as soon as next month. This is what people familiar with the negotiations said who asked for anonymity to discuss private matters. The deal may be formally announced when Modi is expected to head to China for the first time in seven years and meet leader Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation held in Tianjin from Aug. 31.
Amidst Covid-19 flights were suspended. This coincided with a sharp decline in relations amid the nuclear-armed neighbors after border clashes in the Himalayas that killed 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese troops.
This month Modi’s economic calculus was fundamentally altered when Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50% as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil. The US president’s remarks that India’s economy was “dead” and its tariff barriers “obnoxious” further strained relations.
The blow from India’s largest trading partner hit hard, more so after Modi had lavished praise on Trump and was among the first foreign leaders to visit following his return to the White House.
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Henry Wang, president of the Center for China and Globalization think tank in Beijing, said relations amid India and China are in an “up cycle,” and as leaders of the Global South, “they have to really speak to each other.”
“Trump’s tariff war on India has made India realize that they have to maintain some kind of strategic autonomy and strategic independence.
China, also a prime target in Trump’s trade wars, has shown signs it’s ready for a thaw.
This month, it eased curbs on urea shipments to India — the world’s largest importer of the fertilizer.
While, initial volumes are small, the trade could expand, easing global shortages and prices. China relaxed the ban in June but had maintained restrictions on India until now.
News Edit KV Raman
