{
  "id": 9366935,
  "title": "Did BRICS Help Thaw India-China Ties? Now Comes The Real Test",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/did-brics-help-thaw-india-china-ties-now-comes-the-real-test",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-23T15:11:30.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/analysis/did-brics-help-thaw-india-china-ties-now-comes-the-real-test"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The recent BRICS summit in Delhi may not have garnered much attention for its robustness, but its impact on India could be significant. Beyond its convening role, the summit demonstrated India's ability to manage contradictions within the group. Iran and the UAE were able to sit together despite their tensions, China agreed to condemn the Pahalgam terrorist attack, and a dialogue in West Asia was agreed upon despite differing alignments. India had previously managed to reach consensus during its G20 presidency in 2023.\n\nThe meeting between Indian Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi during the summit was more significant than the communique itself. Topics covered included border peace, business links, market access, trade imbalances, and increased exchanges. While it's premature to label this a reconciliation, it does present an opportunity. As neighbors, India and China together account for more than a third of the world's population. While their border dispute will persist, compartmentalizing the relationship may help mitigate tensions. They can manage contradictions in areas like border security, trade and investment, technology, rivers and riparian rights, Himalayan ecology, climate change, WTO reform, nuclear non-proliferation, universities, tourism, and culture.\n\nIndia's trade deficit with China stands at around $112 billion, but this is not primarily due to cheap consumer goods. China provides essential APIs, electronic components, machinery, solar inputs, and processed critical minerals. After the Galwan incident, India has restricted Chinese investment and technology access. However, these measures have not eliminated economic dependence. A notable example is India's withdrawal from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in 2019, which resulted in continued imports. By reducing political exposure, India may have lost out on becoming embedded in Asian production networks. China faces demographic, productivity, debt, and domestic consumption challenges, making it increasingly reliant on international markets.\n\nTherefore, India should not view China as a supplicant but as a formidable economic power with vulnerabilities. India's economy stands to gain from greater economic engagement with China. This can be achieved by opening up discussions on manufacturing in India, employing Chinese labor, sourcing increasingly from India, and exporting from India. Initiatives like inviting BYD, a leading EV manufacturer, to establish a factory in India, could be a good starting point. The approach should be risk-based screening rather than blanket suspicion.\n\nExpanding people-to-people ties is also crucial. This includes easing visa processes for Chinese tourists, business visitors, academics, and engineers, restoring direct flights, and creating a marketed Buddhist circuit for Chinese tourists. Additionally, universities, cinema, sports, and cultural exchanges should be encouraged. While maintaining a strong defense of India's border, India should push for enhanced access to China's vast consumer market to address its trade deficit with China.",
  "summary": "The just-concluded BRICS summit in Delhi may not be remembered for a particularly muscular declaration. But that may miss its more important consequence for India. Did BRICS help accelerate the thaw in India-China relations? India’s diplomatic achievement was not that it convened the summit, since it was anyway the BRICS chair. It was that it managed to hammer out a common declaration among…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}