Tianjin 'Russia-India-China' huddle: A wakeup call for US

New Delhi: The informal Russia-India-China, or RIC, huddle on September 1 in Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO summit, with PM Narendra Modi taking a lead in organising it in a spontaneous fashion, may have played a role in thawing of the Indo-US ties and President Donald Trump dialling down on the tariff threat and eventually telephoning the PM on eve of his 75th birthday.

The pictures and optics of the RIC huddle led to a discourse in the USA that Washington is losing India to China. A panic set in across the US media that the world's two biggest democracies were drifting apart.

It may be recalled that during his first visit to China in seven years, Modi took the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping and pulled them closer on the morning of September 1. As the three leaders mingled, one interpreter translated Putin's words, which began with "We three friends ..."


"Interactions in Tianjin continue! Exchanging perspectives with President Putin and President Xi during the SCO Summit," Modi wrote on X following the interaction, sending out a powerful message.

Trump, within 5 days of the RIC meet, first targeted the grouping and then sent out a positive message through an interview which was later reciprocated by Modi. This was followed by another tweet from Trump announcing revival of trade talks.

Accusations of India funding Russia's war and Trump brokering the Indo-Pak ceasefire were dropped from public statements coming out of Washington over the last few weeks, further building the confidence in the India-USA ties. The last structured RIC between the three leaders was held in 2018 on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina. It dealt with pressing global issues of the day. Revival of a formal RIC meet may still take time but the Tianjin developments reaffirm India's policy of a strategic autonomy.

In July, India had signalled its willingness to consider reviving the long-inactive Russia-India-China trilateral dialogue, following renewed interest from Moscow.