Don't mistake snacks for a meal

Narendra Modi's participation at the SCO leaders' summit in Tianjin has drawn global attention, Donald Trump's included. The optics may suggest India is edging closer to China and Russia in the wake of Trump's tariff offensive and his dismissal of the Indian economy as 'dead'. But that conclusion would be as misplaced as declaring the weekend a win for the Xi Jinping-Vladimir Putin corner of the ring. What should ring loud and clear is that New Delhi remains committed to its strategic autonomy.

A thaw in Modi-Xi ties has been in the works since their 2024 BRICS meeting in Kazan, Russia. Peaceful coexistence is essential for both sides to prosper: India and China remain neighbours with the world's longest unresolved border. Yet, they are also bound by robust trade. China is a key supplier of components critical to India's clean energy ambitions. India, meanwhile, is on a high-growth trajectory with steadily rising defence capabilities. That Modi chose to visit Japan - another country with a complicated relationship with China - just before SCO underlines the broader context of the Tianjin engagement. His departure before tomorrow's China's Victory Day (against Japan in 1945) celebrations being attended by other SCO leaders is also telling.

The summit itself offered subtle signs. The Tianjin Declaration condemned the April Pahalgam massacre, but also equated it with the Jaffar Express and Khuzdar attacks in Pakistan, suggesting the space Beijing is willing to allow. Still, the Modi-Xi bilateral doesn't wipe the slate clean. Nor does careful optics change the underlying reality of rivalry and competition. To speak of a 'reset' would be misleading. What is unfolding, instead, is a pragmatic understanding between two large neighbours.