For years, India and China have viewed each other as archrivals, foes rather than friends. The relationship between the two Asian giants was so bitter that they even fought an all-out war back in 1962 over border disputes. Even as recent as 2020, the two countries have pointed guns at each other at their disputed Himalayan border over demarcation issues.

But, all of these tensions were resolved by one single executive order signed by Donald Trump, president of the United States, which imposed 50 percent tariff on all Indian goods being exported to the US. The decision by Trump to punish India for buying Russian oil brought the latter closer to China, also the archrival of the US.

Attending the SCO Summit in Tianjin on 30 August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shook hands and smiled at Chinese President Xi Jinping, while both leaders vowed to ease mutual tensions and embark on a new diplomatic journey. Such a change in the South Asian geopolitics hints at a shifting global order, where superpowers China and Russia having strong ties to India will give rise to a new axis of power, where the US will find itself alone in its war against the trio.

Over the last few decades, India was America’s friend, while Pakistan lent its hand to China, maintaining a balance of power in South Asia. The US had amicable relations with Pakistan too, which was overshadowed by India’s cordiality with Russia. India and Pakistan held the trigger in South Asian geopolitics, enjoying superpower game to the fullest. China needed Pakistan because India was not willing to open their doors to them, while the US needed both India and Pakistan, the former because of their effort to contain China and the latter because of their strategy to tackle Islamic militancy in the Afghan peninsula. Russian support to India was a time-tested fact, which spanned decades and was largely historical.

Donald Trump’s decision to let go India from its axis of power can be viewed as a change in his Indo-Pacific strategy, where he is devising new ways to deal with China in South Asia. The decision to impose 50 percent tariff on India means that business is what matters to Trump the most, where politics is secondary to him. Through tariffs and trade wars, Donald Trump’s America has decided to deal with China directly, without any proxy in between.

The tariff issue was an effort by Trump to threaten India, which has proved to be counterproductive. Trump’s decision to slap economic woes on India has done what was unthinkable, bringing two foes like India and China to each other’s doors. China, long sufferer of American dichotomy and hegemony, tapped on this chance miracle and forged an alliance with India, the country which has recently become a victim to American masochism.

Together, India and China will definitely teach the US a great lesson, as not having a favourable ground in two of the world’s biggest markets will jeopardise American economic ambition.

China is known for producing almost everything at the cheapest rate possible. Besides, many Chinese companies are now inventing products that are outpacing their American counterparts. On the contrary, the population of India is set to cross that of China and become the world’s largest within 2050. A good bilateral relations between these two nations means that China will find a large market for its products, making up for the losses that they will be incurring while exporting products to the US due to exorbitant tariffs, while India will be finding an alternative to their material needs other than sourcing items from the US.

The new India-China relations is bound to be beneficial for both countries, which will likely be putting an end to the global American hegemony.