China says the US will fail to contain its rise as the world is still dependent on its trade and manufacturing. Says that the US is trying to push India against it and is ramping up efforts to arrest China’s economic progress.
A statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that cooperation between the US and India especially in the military sector should not undermine the peace, cooperation and stability of the region. This reaction was expected after India signed several defence and commercial pacts with the US during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official state visit.
PM Modi’s visit to the United States has been a huge success in bolstering defence ties and has set up a roadmap for industrial-defence cooperation between both countries. This seems to have provoked and bewildered China due to which it is putting out rattled responses especially at a time its ties with Washington are troubled.
Beijing’s mouthpiece detailing India’s ties with Washington expressed concern over the meeting between PM Modi and US President Joe Biden. It feared that India might overtake China in the fields of tech and innovation after having surpassed China as the world’s most populous country and could significantly threaten China’s expanding influence in the Indo pacific.
In a sharp reaction to Modi’s visit, PRC’s top diplomat Wang Yi snapped at the Biden administration for trying to push India against China and ramping up efforts to arrest China’s economic progress. Yi warned that such efforts are bound to fail and that all efforts by Washington to expand its footprint in Asia would fail. The Chinese diplomat said that while US geopolitical aspirations are very difficult to read, its rigorous efforts in ramping up, arming and building economic ties with countries to slow down Chinese economic development are bound to fail.
However, Yi said that while India has the right to choose alliances and policies favourable to its own interests, the US is guided by reckless and selfish interests and is essentially making India a part of its ploy to contain China. Yi Insisted that the US is doomed to fail stating that China’s position in the global supply chain cannot be replaced even by a steadily and rapidly advancing India. Though the Indian economy is expanding, it is still dependent on the Chinese economy as evident in the cross-border trade which reached a whopping $135.98 billion in 2022.
China Rattled by India’s Rise
India’s rise to power in recent times has China worried and sees it as a direct threat. China’s rattled response to PM Modi’s visit to the US reaffirms its hegemonic worldview which states that countries should act in ways conducive to its interest in order to maintain mutual peace, cooperation and stability in the region. This is a reflection of the Chinese Communist Party’s worldview.
India recently joined the 14-member Indo-Pacific Economic Framework primarily in a bid to reduce the economic dependence on China, directly aiming to reduce the Chinese influence in various sectors, especially manufacturing. US plans to enable a manufacturing hub for semiconductors in countries like Vietnam and India have shaken China’s government and the CCP, which are now scrambling for solutions. This would be difficult, especially due to the havoc caused by the Covid19 pandemic, the debt and the economic crisis that it faces now.
India’s rise as an upcoming power makes it a big player for Washington. India is securing defence deals including 2 dozen US-made armed drones, that will help in surveillance and reconnaissance missions. The two countries have outlined a new roadmap for collaboration between India and the US in the fields of telecommunication, defence, Intelligence, Counter Intelligence and AI.
Even with the cloaked diplomacy that is prevalent in International Relations, the message is very much clear, which essentially is to “Tame the Dragon”. Analysts also opine that these deals might be a strategy by the West to sell their weapons to New Delhi and slowly wean off the Russian influence on Indian military hardware and spare parts. Many are critical of the deals with the US, stating that it could make India dependent on the West and that the Indo-US relation can never replace the comprehensive and trustworthy India-Russia partnership. Whatever the agenda of the US and the West is, it is evident that the rise of India as a global power is imminent and the world has to embrace it to restrain hegemonic forces.
(Ashish is pursuing a post-graduation in International Relations. His areas of interest include defence, strategic cooperation, International affairs, Intelligence – Counter intelligence & Analytical Investigation. Opinions expressed are the author’s own)
Dr. Niranjan B Poojar 
Bhagyashree Gupta 
Balaji Subramanian