Probably the most interesting and important things about the President of the United States Donald Trump affect the world economy have been its unexpected consequences, especially the impact on relations between China and India.
Two consistent elements of Trump’s misguided narrative are “making America great again” by bringing manufacturing jobs back to America, and smearing China as an economic and strategic threat.
A decade later, there has been little progress on either end. Instead, the unintended consequences have been far-reaching, and detrimental to American interests. The impact on Washington’s reputation as a pillar of global economic stability has been catastrophic. The washing again of manufacturing – and evidence of any resulting economic stimulus or job creation – remains insignificant, if not visible.
China’s rise has also not been affected, not least due to its strategic stability, unwavering defense and preference for multilateral problem-solving, and its role in facilitating the parallel rise of the Global South, which brings us to its relationship with India.
One consistent paradox of the past eight decades has been the suspicion and rivalry between New Delhi and Beijing. The rivalry has rational grounds: both countries have large populations, civilizations that go back thousands of years and strong rival claims to stand as. champions of developing countries.
By 1950, shortly after India broke free from British colonialism and the Chinese Communists pushed the US-backed Kuomintang government into exile on the island of Taiwan, both countries had followed different models of socialism. While China under Mao Zedong focused on dealing with the internal wounds of decades of civil war, India emerged as a leader of the Non-Aligned Movement.
