Economics, Not Politics Are Driving Modi Closer to China, Says Scholar

HEADLINE TRANSLATION: “India is increasingly recognizing the reality: the harder it confronts China, the deeper its dependence on China becomes.”

There’s been a lot of speculation as to why, after 4-5 years of bitter feuding, China and India are now deciding that the time is right to reconcile. The narrative in the U.S. and Europe focuses on the role of Donald Trump and his torpedoing of the U.S.-India relationship is pushing New Delhi closer to Beijing.

While that is certainly a factor, it’s not the main reason driving Modi to the negotiating table with the Chinese, according to Xie Chao, an associate research fellow at the Center for South Asian Studies at Fudan University.

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by Eric Olander

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