How Xi Jinping's Secret Letter Revived China-India Ties

Geopolitical Relations - China is making quiet outreach to India, with President Xi Jinping writing a letter to his Indian counterpart in March to test the waters on improving ties [3][4] - India started to invest more effort into patching up relations with China around June, coinciding with trade talk hurdles with the U S and the Pakistan conflict [5] - Tensions grew between New Delhi and Washington due to unwelcome intervention from President Donald Trump in the Pakistan conflict [6] - Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit China, marking his first visit in seven years, to meet with President Xi for bilateral talks, focusing on border issues and improving trade and investment [7][8] Economic Factors - Modi is heading to Japan for a two-day visit and is expected to secure nearly $70 billion in investment pledges from Tokyo to bolster New Delhi's economy against soaring U S tariffs [2] - The U S imposing 50% tariffs on Indian exports is damaging, as the U S is India's major export market, impacting Prime Minister Modi's plans to make India a manufacturing hub [9] - India relies heavily on imports from China for key industries like electronics and pharmaceuticals, making maintaining trade ties important [10] - Maintaining soldiers and military on the borders is costly, providing an economic incentive for both sides to ease tensions [11] Strategic Cooperation - India and Japan are said to be signing an economic security pact covering cooperation on semiconductors, critical minerals, and AI [2] - India is keen to patch up ties with China now as U S tensions are starting to impact its economic outlook [8] - India is finding relations and building stronger relations with friendly nations, also patch up ties with countries like China [9]