India, China reaffirm ‘development’ partnership amid steep Trump tariffs

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday “reaffirmed that the two countries were development partners” amid President Trump’s steep tariffs on India, according to a press release.

According to a press release from Modi’s office, Xi and Modi had a meeting on Sunday in the Chinese city of Tianjin. The two “welcomed the positive momentum and steady progress in bilateral relations since their last meeting,” the press release states.

“They reaffirmed that the two countries were development partners and not rivals, and that their differences should not turn into disputes,” the press release from Modi’s office said. “A stable relationship and cooperation between India and China and their 2.8 billion peoples on the basis of mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity are necessary for the growth and development of the two countries, as well as for a multipolar world and a multi-polar Asia befitting the trends of the 21st century.”

The Chinese president pushed for improved India-Chinese relations and partnership, Chinese state media outlet Xinhua reported. Xi said the correct option for India and China ought to be a “cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant,” Xinhua reported.

Trump’s steep tariffs on India as a penalty for its purchase of oil from Russia took effect earlier this week, with the import tax imposed on India now at 50 percent.

The president said he would target India with a 25 percent penalty for the oil purchases that he argued are helping support Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine, on top of a 25 percent “reciprocal” tariff, by Wednesday.

In the first few months of his second term, Trump and his administration have pushed for an end to the war in Ukraine, but have had no luck so far in doing so. The president recently met with both Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, D.C.