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Global Impact: new era of geopolitical alignment takes shape as Antony Blinken travels to China, India’s Narendra Modi visits Washington
- Global Impact is a weekly curated newsletter featuring a news topic originating in China with a significant macro impact for our newsreaders around the world
- In this edition, we wrap up recent visits by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and look at who is in the better position and what the next moves might be.
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If Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was the moment when the post-Cold War period ended, Washington’s diplomatic engagements with China and India in June 2023 provided the clearest read yet on the geopolitical alignment of our new era.
It was at the height of the Cold War that Washington surprised the world with diplomatic overtures to Beijing that helped China break with its neighbour to the north, creating a starting point for Beijing’s move into the orbit of a rules-based, market-oriented order led by the United States.
That led to China’s eventual inclusion in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and subsequent vault to second place in the world’s economic rankings.
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‘China will not challenge or replace the US’, Xi tells Blinken at crucial meeting
‘China will not challenge or replace the US’, Xi tells Blinken at crucial meeting
India, meanwhile, stuck with an official policy of non-alignment, but relied on the Soviet Union – and latterly the Russian Federation – to supply its military and for support in its frequent conflicts with neighbouring Pakistan.
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But China has come nearly full circle diplomatically, with its refusal to condemn Russia’s war and President Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow. And in India, we have seen at least a significant shift, underscored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to Washington – only the third head of state to be received by US President Joe Biden at such an elevated level.
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