India’s Prime Minister and Chinese president met at the BRICS summit in Russia, for the first meeting in five years. BRICS is an IGO representing Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and possibly other states with growing economies. In 2020, India and China’s ties broke after a military clash due to the disputed military territory, ending with 20 Indian soldiers and 4 Chinese soldiers dead. Their border standoff hurt economic relations and caused distrust between the two countries. This has led to the end of investments of Chinese firms in India, and the banning of major products or Chinese-owned apps, including TikTok. Their meeting ended with an agreement to ease military tensions in the Himalayas and build stable bilateral relations between the two countries.
India and China are two of the largest countries in Asia, and their military and economic cooperation could create more regional stability and prevent further escalation between the two. This is crucial for BRICS, as an IGO regarding economic, political, and cultural issues to grow their global influence. Their meeting and agreement are a good example of handling problems diplomatically and can help other developing nations in the region follow their lead.
Both countries can use this opportunity to strengthen and stabilize their military patrols along borders, rebuild economic trust, and prevent future military disputes. India could use this as an economic strategy, by lowering the need for Chinese imports by manufacturing domestically, while choosing which trade sectors to reopen, depending on what can’t be done in India. On the other side, China is an economically growing state, and it’s in their national interest to grow global influence and trust. By continuing to handle the military disputes with India diplomatically, they are showing their willingness to work with other states, and maybe gain the trust or support they need from other global actors to grow in international power.
I can connect this to class because both countries wouldn’t civically deal with disputes if they didn’t attend to their national interests. Both have military and nuclear power, so a reason behind their handling problems in a friendly matter has to do with how other states may view them. One side of this is that India can also use their rebuilt relationship to balance their foreign policy, through maintaining economic ties with both China and the US, along with other actors.