Public sentiment is a blend of cautious optimism and historical skepticism regarding India-China trade relations. While many see the potential for collaboration and mutual economic benefits, significant distrust remains due to past grievances and border disputes, compounded by geopolitical tensions influenced by the U.S.

India

China

United States

One of the smart comments i heard on TV recently was that India isn't in the league of the US-China powers who are headed into imminent hostilities. 

But the side India puts it's weight on when required could determine the course of the results. The marginal utility of India is extremely high in the high stakes fight. 

That explains a bunch of behaviours.

SubstantialSquash3

SS: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar - only the second such meeting between the two sides since 2020 - when deadly clashes in the Galwan valley in Ladakh, a disputed Himalayan border region, led to a complete breakdown of ties between the countries.

Relations are now on a "positive trend" towards cooperation, Yi said ahead of a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday.

Jaishankar said that India and China were seeking to "move ahead from a difficult period in our ties".

The two counterparts held discussions on a range of bilateral issues from trade to pilgrimages and river data sharing.

Yi is also scheduled to meet India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval for on-going negotiations on resolving the boundary dispute between the two countries.

The visit is being seen as the latest sign of a thaw in ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

The rapprochement between the countries comes in the backdrop of India's worsening bilateral relationship with the US.

Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25% penalty on Indian imports for buying oil and weapons from Russia, taking total tariffs to 50% - the highest in Asia.

On Monday, White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro wrote an opinion piece in The Financial Times in which he accused India of "cozying up to both Russia and China".

Mundane-Laugh8562

Anyone who reads Chinese history will never think this is real.... India did everything for China - recognise the country before everyone else, agreed on tibet take over, agreed on one China policy, denied signing major treaties in which China was left out, gave over the UN permanent security council seat that was offered to it, even "India-China brotherhood" government statements that failed to criticize China policies in everything. 

Yet got stabbed in the back in the war, hostile takeover of territory, support to Pakistan's terrorism, screwed India in galwan, turned down several opportunities to be friends again as offered by Modi. 

Fool me once, shame on you
Fool me several times, Chinese delight

A good relationship with India seems like it might be a very valuable thing, and the contested territories so minor, is there anything special about the territories that make the conflict worth it for China over the potential prosperous cooperation? Water?


Or is India an economic rival to the degree that territorial disagreement is just a vessel for the economic rivalry? If not for domestic nationalism I wonder if just surrendering all contested territories to be able to fully focus on countering the US might not really be a bad move for China

bxzidff

India will be china’s friend when they give back stolen territory.

Successful_Try9704

Vietnam and China should be partners, not adversaries... lol.

Westerners have nothing to worry about.

The_Keg

I don't think Indians would be as feelgood and braindead as the West in falling for the CCPs biding time with best fake smiles. Whereas Trump is a temporary phenomenon, the CCPs unrepentant ways toward India to squeeze it to limit its potential are eternal.

Linny911

Do you think China will give back Aksai Chin if India asks Nicely? you know in the spirit of friendship?

Halfie951

India will never align with China strategically.
The only time India tried being friendly was right after independence (1947) and before China stabbed India in the back in 1962 — and that was more about showing a united Asia than anything else.

Right now, India’s just taking advantage of its rough patch with the U.S. to sort out a few issues with China.

Mainly:

1. Border tensions

2. Unblocking stuff like fertilizers, rare earths, and tunnel-drilling machines

That doesn’t mean India’s suddenly teaming up with China. In fact, India shot down China’s attempt to push the idea that “India accepts Taiwan as part of China.”

In Trump’s world, all the friction between the U.S. and India can just be brushed aside by Trump, as if nothing ever happened, and ties can go back to how they were. India seems to be playing along with that idea — which is why it isn’t hitting back too hard at Trump’s remarks.

All of Trump's displeasure will disappear (as if it was never present) once the trade deal is finalized.

curiousstrider

What are they calling Trump now? Comrade America?

Edit: 🙄 Chinese people online are using this term connected to the idea that Trump is constantly doing things that end up helping China get ahead.

rathat

[deleted]

这你得去问印度，中国多次邀请印度加深与金砖国家间的合作，是印度自己不愿意。

他想在中国俄罗斯美国之间左右逢源，保持自己的中立态度，以获取最大利益。

You should ask India about that. China has repeatedly invited India to deepen cooperation within the BRICS framework, but India itself is unwilling.

He wants to maneuver between China, Russia, and the United States, maintaining his neutral stance to maximize his benefits.

No-Gear3283

"We have a harder job...': Jaishankar says West built up China while running India down" 

[https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/economy/story/we-have-a-harder-job-jaishankar-says-west-built-up-china-while-running-india-down-at-bt-mindrush-469010-2025-03-23](https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/economy/story/we-have-a-harder-job-jaishankar-says-west-built-up-china-while-running-india-down-at-bt-mindrush-469010-2025-03-23)

When I first saw this statement, I simply couldn't believe it was made by the Indian Foreign Minister. Undoubtedly, Jaishankar can represent the views of India's elite, and this might be the answer you're looking for.India doesn't truly understand or respect China. Instead, it harbors a jealous mindset, believing that China's rapid development in the past few decades is only because of Western help. Indians are unwilling to acknowledge that China has been a great power throughout its thousands of years of history, and that the downturn of the past century or so was just temporary.China has always had a favorable view of India because of Buddhism, but India doesn't reciprocate. This is the root of all the problems between China and India.

Flat-Back-9202

Acceptable-Gap-2397

in short：India have great ego but no balls

sakujor

地缘政治上来说，印度的目标是统合南亚次大陆，然后以此为根据地向世界岛中心部位（中东、中亚）发展势力，最终辐射掌控整个世界岛；中国的地缘目标是保持世界岛两端的贸易通畅（古代的丝绸之路以及现在的一带一路政策），以帮助自己更好的建设经济。一旦印度强大，他的崛起势必会截断世界岛两端的沟通，就像奥斯曼帝国控制博斯普鲁斯海峡那样，印度会控制印度洋的航线并威胁中亚的商路。所以我们会介入印度南亚次大陆，避免印度过度强大；同时保证他不会进一步破碎，那将会使南亚巴尔干化，就像奥匈帝国崩溃后那样，牵制我们太多的外交资源。

Geopolitically speaking, India's goal is to unify the South Asian subcontinent, and then use it as a base to develop power in the center of the world island (Middle East, Central Asia), and eventually radiate and control the entire world island; China's geopolitical goal is to keep trade smooth at both ends of the world island (the ancient Silk Road and the current Belt and Road policy) to help itself build a better economy. Once India is strong, its rise will inevitably cut off the communication between the two ends of the world island, just like the Ottoman Empire controlled the Bosphorus Strait. India will control the shipping routes in the Indian Ocean and threaten the trade routes in Central Asia. So we will intervene in the Indian South Asian subcontinent to prevent India from becoming too powerful; at the same time, we will ensure that it will not be further broken, which will Balkanize South Asia, just like the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which will tie up too many of our diplomatic resources.

Louie-Zzz

India mostly seeks approval from their Western masters.  This is why India cannot cooperate with China.

tenchichrono

i worked in both countries before. i can see no Chinese hated Indians but i see many Indians hate Chinese.  But that’s just my experiences working in both offices

AfraidScheme433

Some good old-fashioned sinophobia + insecurity from internalized racism due to centuries of British rule, most likely.

Particular_String_75

First, China and India have significant territorial disputes. Second, China opposes the Dalai Lama and his exiled government.

ZealousidealChair452

 Why would China want to cripple its economy?

India’s foreign and trade policies whip back and forth according to American demands.  China cannot work with such fickle uncertainty.

nagidon

curiouswindcat

Pakistan needs conflict to justify their military spending and sort of military like rule where the military plays a huge role in government. India needs someone to blame for political clout as well. Politically the conflict benefits the elites of each states. It makes sense for them to cooperate but once they do, the ruling party would lose power in favor of more liberal and economically driven parties. At least that’s my insight of the conflict since they both have nukes and always have small scale fights and conflicts.

teehee1234567890

India cant unite itself diplomatically and politically resulting in deep cultural, regional, religious and economic divides, let alone developing meaningful relations with neighbors it has historically deemed to be beneath their rules (UK). They only acknowledge the authority of those who they look up to, and that is the white man.

No-Muscle-3318

Don’t India and China have unresolved territorial disputes?

Inevitable_Simple402

Here to do the what aboutism. Why can’t USA and Cuba develop relationship politically.
Fellow whataboutist do your thing

Special_Beefsandwich

olirulez

China claims on arunachal pradesh is the obvious one to stopping India and China collaborating.

shishr2

They’ll have a relationship when India eventually breaks into pieces, India like the weapons it boasts so much are Frankenstein creations so all China needs to do is wait.

CreepyDepartment5509

unhinged_centrifuge

Personally I think India has trust issues.

vilester1

StepAsideJunior

Is there any country ever benefited from working with India?

aps105aps105

Indias foreign policy is one of non-alignment. They intentionally don't get to close to anyone politically

Jsaun906

Umm have you heard of BRICS?

Brazil
Russia
INDIA
CHINA
South Africa

GR3YH4TT3R93

China and India has smart people. But geopolitics made Chinese govt friendly with dumb people like Pakistan ergo anti-India. In the west, China and India FOB people hangout together because we have similar jobs, interests, neighborhoods.

Western_Context8987

Who has developed a close relationship politically with India? Just curious to know

maxsandao

They can — it’s just geopolitics is a bitch, plus the territorial contest exacerbated the already complicated relationship.

PhantomEagle777

because doing that would mean distancing from America

Material_Comfort916

Asking Chinese pinks will give you extremely one sided narrative. Try asking Indian subreddits aswell

Harsel

Why? What does India get out of it? They already have the cheap labor and young country. Their best course is to stay neutral and make money left and right 

Spirited-Willow-2768

Shared border and nationalism

Where there is border there will be will wars

ThinkIncident2

China doesn't want to work with Brown countries, they want to own them. See all the dodgy deals they've done which result in them owning major ports around the world

giboauja

Vegetable_Green_2013

As of 2025, India and China have populations of approximately 1.46 billion and 1.42 billion respectively, together accounting for about 35% of the world’s total population.

India has nothing to gain from collaborating with China.  

Whenever, another country (namely USA) falls out with China, they go looking for another country to takes it's place for cheap factories and labour. So India often takes the spoils.

pinkyandthebrain-ama

The west's problem with China is that they are a dictatorship country not a democracy. 


For India it's probably just ego.

Moonnnz

Same situation with Australia, gearing for confrontation with China to protect it’s (Australia’s) trade interests, with its biggest trade partner being……China………..can’t make this shit up

Sea_Translator5973

TonyArmasJr

Democracy.

India has an extremely nationalist population that hates China because they got humiliated in Galwan.

Any Indian leader that reciprocates with China will be removed by the public

Purple-Mile4030

Emergency_Log1662

Not possible when India’s first claim is the whole Tibet area or shit

Ms4Sheep

hungry7445

Because Indian chooses to be American servant

qianqian096

qin_restoration

Land disputes. A large region to the south of Tibet (roughly 80k sq kilometers) is currently controlled by India but is also claimed by China. There have been many military incidents; the latest one, occurred in 2020, caused multiple casualties for both countries. (Also, China briefly invaded and occupied the region in late 1950s)

Logical_Ad_6039

Because it’s Chinese Communist Party, who doesn’t have friends

Sparklymon

Because they drink from the same mountain range and it is dying. Same story with india and Pakistan, frankly,  but that is with added religious tensions.

Someslapdicknerd

I think they do have a relationship, and also as neighbours, they have normal points of friction (i.e., territory). The big problem is competing powers trying to pull them in opposite directions for their own personal gain. India is currently trying to "surf on these waves" for their own benefit (both politically and economically), and they are not completely wrong for doing so, similar to singapore. It would benefit regular folks greatly if their was more cooperation, though.

zooap63

I'm a Chinese working in Beijing. I see many comments mentioning things like territorial disputes, but I don't have particularly strong feelings about those issues. From a business perspective, such matters don't really affect ordinary people much. About 6-7 years ago, many Chinese software companies were expanding into Southeast Asian markets, including India. Many colleagues came back complaining about having difficulty adapting to the local food, which formed my initial impression of India at that time. Then more recently, in the past few years, we started frequently hearing about India's tax policies leading to many Chinese companies withdrawing from the Indian market. This made me feel that India doesn't seem very welcoming to foreign enterprises - and this isn't limited to just Chinese companies.

yorelog

Lee Kuan Yew, the former PM of Singapore, was once asked for his input by India’s Maharashtra state government on how Mumbai can be the next world financial and technological centre of development. His suggestion was to sequester Mumbai into a separate administrative division under the direct control of the central government in Delhi along the likes of Shenzhen, Shanghai etc. 

The response? It was impossible because the state government was elected by the rural bloc i.e the farmers and villagers. Separating Mumbai from the state meant that the state government would lose revenue, and therefore it is better for the politicians in the state to retain Mumbai even though it is detrimental to the state’s long term interests.

In other words, in order for India’s leadership to even reach the top rung of their political system, they have to cater to the lowest common denominator - the frothing at the mouth chest thumping Hindu chauvinists and nationalists - because that’s where the votes are. I’m fairly certain that India’s top leadership aren’t fools, and they understand that it’s probably better to put these legacy tensions with their neighbours to rest, but they’re effectively hamstrung by their political machinery and the need to appear tough even though their military is dysfunctional.

ryzhao

For that to happen china has to retreat from akshai chin and spot trying to claim arunachal pradesh.

Ok_Following_4845

American security agencies do not want china - India to have good relations . They consider a united India - china alliance to be a major threat to their hegemonic position in the world.  Therefore, NED, USAID, CIA are involved in covert and overt actions to attempt to disrupt positive relations between the two giants .

astraladventures

See how the Indians treat Chinese companies investing in India

daxiong828

Land they both claim, and production of goods. India has a better economy for buying goods. They both have large populations to feed, make products to export to other countries.  This makes them competitors. China and India have always had a

wellofworlds

Territorial claims conflict with each other.

A massive advantage America has is it's so far away from any other powerful Nation.

toeknee88125

KingOfAgAndAu

One is aggressor  another one is victim of that aggression.

Educational-Basil424

I think a lot of it comes from the 1962 war with China, which was very surprising for India. Ever since then, India has had a deep mistrust of China.

What about the UN security council seat that China keeps blocking? India invited China to the council under Nehru and China returned the favour through a 1962 war.

your_dope_is_mine

Chinese borders are illegal. India isn’t supposed to have any border with a country called china. Maybe in the future perhaps? An independent Tibet is a prerequisite for that relationship. Sadly, it won’t happen till china goes through a border and regime change ✌️

nighalivesmatter

Indian netizens' replies really blew my mind!

India is a democracy hence, there needs to be populist policies. Being hard against the Chinese is seen as being strong and patriotic

hajvaj

We have little to gain. Even simple win-win is not achievable with this laughable government and the country it stands for.

furyofSB

How about China actively having a friendship with Indian's greatest rival Pakistan??? It's like asking why doesn't Canada and Mexico get along with Trump lol

0D7553U5

And yet being given it without a fight under pretenses of friedship, militarizing it, then killing 5000 Indians for an extra sliver of land is emblematic of the immoral nature of your regime, morally bankrupt CCP bot.

No, the Indians won’t trust a group that does that.  Sorry boss.  Don’t kill 5K soldiers of a group trying to be your collective friend if you didn’t want that to happen.

resuwreckoning

Interesting how this was recommended to me (an Indian who grew up in US). I have family in armed forces, so I did pose this question. Answer I got was two things: Border disputes, and more significantly Communism (or marxist/leninist/stalinist maosim if you so prefer). No hard feelings, just the opinion of some soldiers.

China’s territorial expansionism. Look no further. It’s as simple as that.

JunkReallyMatters

All the other answers aside, India and China collaboration is geographically and economically impossible. China is the world’s biggest manufacturer. US is the world’s biggest consumer. That’s why they could’ve worked together in the past 30 years. The only way up for India is to take Chinas place as the manufacturer cuz it doesn’t take a very smart person to see India is not a country with a large population of middle class consumers. What do India and China have to collaborate on economically, produce a bunch of cheap knock off phones that no one buys? 

Geographically, they’re too close to each other. There can be only one regional superpower. That’s why we had a war between India and China, and Vietnam and China - the wars that established the de facto regional supremacy of (mainland PRC) China, won it back its UN seat, and created the stable conditions for it to be the biggest manufacturer that it is today. Had India won the war, it would’ve been India that Trump yaps about on twitter all the time. 

Similar to how there can be only one superpower in NA. A strong US necessarily means weaker Canada and Mexico. Don’t forget US fought with both of its neighbors, established regional dominance long before its rise to global dominance. US and Mexico had a war - imagine by some miracle if Mexico had won, and not only kept its Spanish speaking lands and even took a bunch of US territories. We would have completely different North America right now.

Edit: you can see how these sore loser Indians here live in their own bubbles and it’s quite funny. None of the other answers touch the real reason. Maybe such naivety is exactly why they could hardly take on Pakistan, let alone China.

Spiritual_Note6560

Because the Chinese are aggressive and belligerent expansionist who have no respect for any of their neighbours. 

China is truly a scourge and a curse on Asia. Paranoid tyrannical surveillance state that supports and arms terrorists can be friends with no one.

Whenever this kind of questions rises up, Indian people immediately jumped to “backstabbing” narrative. lol. In modern history, China had wars with Japan, US/UN in Korean War, Soviet, Vietnam and India, India is the ONLY one that could not move forward and bury hatchet with China. China has strong trade relationships with US, Japan and South Korea, while forming alliances with Russia.

Positive-Ad1859

I believe China, India and Pakistan can just settle the dispute of territory as it is now. Whatever happened in the past should just stay as past, everyone move on and live in peace.

India did try to develop relationship with china 'Hindi chini  bhai bhai' in 1960s but china backstabs India by encroaching in kashmir, arunachal pradesh and taking the part of Indian territory in 1960s. Also they support a Country who spread terrorisim, don't the world know how those terrorists kill 26 innocent people in broad daylight in pahalgam.
Also India can never ever never never never never never never never never never never never never truly trust china, china has an expansionist mindset, they try to encroach here and there in other countries territory, taking other countries land and sea bit by bit, they have territory issues with so many countries veitnam, Phillipines, japan, south korea, malaysia, India, Bhutan also they do debt trap diplomacy in other countries like srilanka and African nations.

But I do love china As a whole,  I also admire their hardwork, work ethic and discpline towards hardwork and success, I also like about their technology advancements(huawei, byd, tencent) and improving the life of their people. I really really love to visit china and meet chinese people. They are also the first nation to stand up against the west bullying.
But please please don't get me wrong here chinese people, two lions cannot exist on a same piece of land(asia), whatever we do we can never co-exist together. Just like china and russia can't coexist together because of territory.

No_Attitude2089

The chinese are simply too egoistic and dumb to come outta their own small bubble. While India itself wants 0 dependence on west, china accuses India of being the puppets of west and hypocritically support and funk paxtan at the same time, a western puppet? What do they even want from India? Create our own bubble ending all ties with the other sphere of the world meanwhile we arent even capable of doing that right now? Yeah, not feasible to take this step just to please the bat eaters chiggas. 

PolicyHour8661

If China gradually takes a step to create a peace with India and Pakistan and takes a firm stand between them instead of siding with one country it would work but, China needs to take the first step.

Happy_Cow5933

I think history needs to be left in the past , mistakes have been done from both sides. But instead of blaming either side ,people should cooperate.
Like when Mao established his government India was one of the first countries to acknowledge the govt. Similarly, when Bangladesh was formed China didn’t go against India(It remained neutral) It’s not like India has opposed China.
Only problem of India is China engaging with Pakistan.
See border disputes are everywhere in the world, and the bodies that were formed to solve this problem are a bug joke.
But if tariffs are helping in solving this issue , then I think both countries should welcome it.

bauXYYY

Rail and road infrastructure to trade? What do you think is in between India and China? A field?

Wafflecone3f

Source: https://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Home/ShareImage?Pictureid=59414fac43

https://www.hindustantimes.com/editors-pick/the-trade-matrix-between-india-and-china-number-theory-101757021770509.html

AverageIndianGeek

flyingad

Archived Link: [https://archive.li/f4OFf](https://archive.li/f4OFf)

Update: China lifts curbs on fertilizers, rare earths &amp; tunnel boring machines to India

GetOutOfTheWhey

roy790

I think both China and India are fully aware of each other's situation.

India is only seeking cooperation with China because it is suffering from the trade war.

If the United States resumes funding India in the future, the Indians will undoubtedly create new frictions on the border.

meiguobisi

**NOTICE: See below for a copy of the original post by GetOutOfTheWhey in case it is edited or deleted.**

Context:

* The Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with aims to discuss border peace, trade, and bilateral cooperation between India and China. 
* Primarily the talks will focus on economic and trade issues, people-to-people exchanges, river data sharing and border trade.
* India's FM stressed that maintaining peace along the disputed border is essential for positive relations between the two nations.
* He has repeated the importance of both sides pulling back troops that have massed since the deadly 2020 Himalayan clash.
* This meeting is meant to build relations as Prime Minister Modi is expected to conduct his first trip to China in seven years, in order to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.
* The ties between the countries have slowly been improving since October 2024, when Xi Jinping and Modi agreed in Russia to reduce border tensions.
* Noticeably relations have gotten much better as US' recent tariff decisions came as a shock to India. The US changed course and imposed tariffs up to 50% on Indian's good due to India's continued oil trade with Moscow. 
* The tariff decisions and reasoning came as a surprise as the US initially allowed India's Russian oil imports as it was under the G7 price cap framework, which prioritized market stability as well as cutting revenue to the Russian oil industry. 
* India had assumed that its purchases were tolerated within US and G7 guidelines, which set a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian seaborne crude and Indian importers took advantage of these discounts Russia offered to the Asian markets.

*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/China) if you have any questions or concerns.*

AutoModerator

Well india is a few countries which population is expanding, i think our country is looking forward to corporate with India

Efficient_Round7509

I like to see the greatest allies of BRICS working together,they do it for the benefit of both nations and the entire world population.😌

Immediate-Bluebird-7

Maybe Indian exporters could absorb some tariffs. But I doubt we'd have 50% margins.
Might as well make it 100%.
Have little to lose now. 

There was never a chance in hell we'd stop buying from Russia.
But I think now we should increase it from the current 30% to higher since its significantly cheaper. Reduce the US' share to nil. Stop exporting to the EU if they had a role to play in this.

Cannot budge an inch on this. Need to reciprocate.
Trump was right initially as he tried to reduce tariffs through deals.

But with Pak and now Russia, he's challenging the foundations of India's autonomy. A matter India does not negotiate on.

shankisaiyan

Chinese Ambassador's remarks on India-China trade ties with calls for collaboration amidst increasing U.S. tariffs on Indian imports.

India-China Trade Relations

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