New Delhi: A discreet letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping to Indian President Droupadi Murmu has reportedly played a pivotal role in softening tensions and resetting ties between New Delhi and Beijing, according to a Bloomberg report citing an unnamed Indian official. The letter, described as “secret” and carefully worded, was intended not only as a gesture but also as a test of India’s willingness to recalibrate its approach to China at a time of shifting global trade dynamics and mounting pressure from Washington. Though formally addressed to President Murmu, the message was swiftly conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, underlining its strategic importance. Xi, in his note, reportedly voiced concerns about potential Indo-US alignments that could undercut Chinese interests, while also identifying a provincial-level leader who would coordinate Beijing’s follow-up engagement with India.
The timing of the communication was significant. Earlier this year, former US President Donald Trump escalated his trade war against Beijing, doubling down on tariffs that rattled global markets. India too was caught in the crosscurrents, negotiating with Washington even as Trump controversially claimed credit for brokering a temporary de-escalation between India and Pakistan after the deadly Pahalgam terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 people. It was against this backdrop that Xi’s letter reached New Delhi, prompting Modi’s government to weigh China’s overture more seriously by June. For India, balancing pressure from the US with the possibility of stabilizing its northern frontier became an urgent diplomatic calculation.
According to the report, both sides quickly recognized the value of moving beyond the bitterness of the 2020 border clash. In the months that followed, India and China pledged to accelerate dialogue on their disputed boundary and reestablish confidence-building measures. Symbolic but significant steps soon followed: direct passenger flights between the two countries are expected to resume after years of suspension, China has eased curbs on urea shipments to India, and New Delhi has reopened tourist visas for Chinese nationals, marking a thaw in people-to-people exchange. These moves reflect a broader desire on both sides to project stability, even if deep-seated mistrust remains.
Ironically, the renewed momentum in ties was catalyzed not by goodwill alone, but by Trump’s aggressive tariff regime, which was originally intended to punish both Beijing and New Delhi. In March, shortly after Washington announced a fresh round of tariff hikes on Chinese goods, Beijing publicly urged Delhi to join in resisting “hegemonism and power politics.” Xi himself famously remarked that making the “elephant and dragon dance together” was the only logical choice for Asia’s two giants. By July, Chinese officials and state-backed outlets such as The Global Times were repeating the metaphor, with some even suggesting that India and China could engage in a “ballet dance” to counterbalance US trade pressures.
The evolving diplomatic choreography is expected to culminate in a high-profile encounter next week when Prime Minister Modi travels to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit the largest since its founding in 2001. It will be Modi’s first visit to China in over seven years, and his first in-person meeting with Xi since the two leaders last shared a stage at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. Analysts suggest that Xi will seize the moment to showcase how Beijing envisions a “post-American-led order,” using platforms like BRICS and the SCO to rally middle powers in defiance of Washington’s containment strategies.
As Eric Olander, editor-in-chief of The China-Global South Project, told Reuters, “Xi will want to use the summit as an opportunity to demonstrate that White House efforts to isolate Beijing by targeting China, Iran, Russia, and even India have failed to achieve their intended outcome. BRICS has rattled Donald Trump more than any other grouping, and that is precisely its purpose.” The upcoming SCO summit is therefore being viewed not just as a diplomatic gathering but as a stage where China and India will signal whether their uneasy pragmatism can evolve into a more enduring partnership.