India’s Modi to meet Xi and Putin on first China trip in seven years as US tariffs bite

Prime minister Narendra Modi’s four-day trip, which includes Japan visit, comes while India seeks to diversify trade and bolster ties with Beijing

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi will land in China this weekend for his first visit in seven years – a trip that puts him in the company of Chinese president Xi Jinping and Russian president Vladimir Putin just as India’s ties with Washington have soured.

Modi’s visit to Tianjin for a regional security summit comes days after the US doubled tariffs on Indian exports to 50%, citing New Delhi’s refusal to stop buying Russian oil.

The row has upended years of deepening cooperation between India and the US, built on technology and a shared determination to counter Beijing’s global ambitions. It has also forced India to aggressively look elsewhere to diversify its trade.

“Indian trust in the US is shattered,” South Asia analyst Michael Kugelman said. “I’m not sure whether US officials fully realise how much trust they have squandered in such a short time.”