Speaking at the GMF Brussels Forum 2025, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized the complex and changing relationship between China and India, characterizing it as the establishment of a “certain new equilibrium” between two emerging countries that are also close neighbors.
He emphasized that the simultaneous growth of both nations is creating a complicated balance in the global environment, adding layers of complexity to both their bilateral ties and the larger international order.
Jaishankar noted that a number of factors, such as protracted and unresolved boundary disputes, important trade and economic concerns, and basic disparities in political and economic ideologies, influence the relationship between China and India.
Although both countries have populations of over a billion people, he pointed out that their approaches to modernization have been different, with China starting its economic reforms before India. This asynchronous but simultaneous emergence has produced a complex and nuanced connection that defies easy comparisons or presumptions that one nation will merely counterbalance or balance the other.
He went on to say that their shared borders and occasionally neighbors further complicate the matrix of India-China ties and add to the complexity of regional dynamics. Jaishankar emphasized that the complexity is exacerbated by the disparities in political systems, social ideals, and economic strategies, and that the unresolved boundary continues to play a major role in determining how they interact.
Speaking from the European point of view, Jaishankar noted that during the previous ten years, Europe’s position on China has changed, with certain nations taking a more practical and firm attitude. He implied that not all European countries move at the same rate or have the same viewpoint on China by contrasting this development with Europe’s previous views toward Russia.
Jaishankar’s comments highlight how important the India-China relationship is to the changing global balance and that it is not merely a bilateral matter. It is defined by a combination of rivalry, collaboration, and unsolved issues, all of which are situated within a larger framework of regional complexity and worldwide power shifts.
