The ceasefire between the United States and China
Ceasefire, India is well-equipped to manage any abrupt changes in the balance of power in the world because of its own ascent within the international system. Still, what matters should the United States and China’s presidents focus on at their meeting in San Francisco?
India has no cause for concern about a fundamental change in the most significant great power relationship in the world today as US and Chinese leaders work to stop the continuous decline in bilateral relations.
There has been worldwide interest in this week’s meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco on the fringes of an Asian economic conference, since the fluctuations in the US-China relationship impact all major nations and areas.
The San Francisco summit was more about organising a ceasefire in a contentious relationship than it was about reviving the type of strategic cooperation that looked feasible at the beginning of the century, despite the fact that there are always worries in India about a “G-2” or a Sino-American collaboration in Asia.
However, several of the new areas of US-China collaboration that Biden and Xi discussed on Wednesday, such regulating artificial intelligence, require particular attention from New Delhi. Possible agreements between the US and China will undoubtedly have a significant long-term influence on how international AI regulations develop.
However, the Indian government and business community need to take note of President Xi’s sincere attempts to win back US business leaders, who were once the strongest supporters of China in Washington. India must get complacent about its appeal or wager that the “China option” is no longer feasible for Western enterprises. Maintaining productive relations with the capital of the West should continue to be Delhi’s top concern.
India will also have to keep an eye on the developments stemming from the two leaders’ discussion on regional security concerns in the Indo-Pacific, the ongoing Middle East crisis, and the European conflict in Ukraine. This regional security conversation showed no signs of making any significant progress, particularly with regard to Taiwan, which China views as the “most sensitive issue” in bilateral ties. While Washington wants Beijing to give up using force to unify Taiwan with the People’s Republic, Xi Jinping wants the US to cease backing “Taiwan’s independence.”
Military-to-military connections between the two nations have been restored; China had stopped them following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in the previous year. China promised to impose strict measures on the production and export of the lethal opioid fentanyl, which is used as a drugs adulterant. The presidents allegedly discussed other key divisions between the two nations during the discussion, including the Taiwan dispute and the Palestine problem. By many accounts, the US has brought China along while offering very little in return; trade and military limitations, for instance, remain in place.
Through the Quad, AUKUS, and strengthening of relations with longstanding allies like Japan, the US has also established alliances and achieved strategic victories in Asia throughout the past ten or so years. The gathering can be interpreted as an attempt to restore trust between two nations embroiled in a standoff.
The gravity of the bilateral meeting between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on the fringes of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit on Wednesday in San Francisco is something that is easy to overstate or understate. In light of the recent heated rhetoric between the two superpowers, it may be said that the first meeting between the leaders since the G20 Bali conference a year ago was successful. For its part, New Delhi must make sure that India keeps up the defence and consolidation of its interests against the United States while closely monitoring Beijing’s relations with Washington ceasefire.