Opinion | As Western-led order crumbles, can China and India fulfil their destinies?

With deepening political polarisation in the United States in the run-up to November’s presidential election and the dangerously escalating war in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, the world may be hurtling towards a period of instability and intensifying geopolitical rivalry.

In recent months, China and India have acknowledged the consequences of this volatile environment. As two champions of the Global South, and currently the world’s second- and fifth-largest economies measured by nominal gross domestic product, their rapprochement and close cooperation in world affairs may become an indispensable anchor of stability in the face of a fragmenting Western-led global order.

Beijing and New Delhi expressed renewed impetus for improving bilateral ties on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation leaders’ meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, in July. At the summit, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar agreed to make “concerted efforts” to resolve their border dispute with a sense of “purpose and urgency”.

Relations soured precipitously following the Galwan Valley clash in 2020, when troops were deployed to both sides of the poorly-delineated Himalayan border known as the Line of Actual Control, resulting in the deaths of troops from both countries.

In a somewhat concessionary tone towards New Delhi, Wang also said that Beijing is not pursuing a “unipolar Asia”, is respectful of India’s traditional role in the region, and would like the two sides to explore “China-India Plus” cooperation in South Asia. He added that both sides should take part in multilateral institutions such as the Brics grouping and the Group of 20 with a “cooperative posture”.