Modi's China Visit: RIC Triangle Key to Multipolar World Order
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The future of the Russia-India-China (RIC) mechanism depends on the trajectory of Sino-India and India-US ties, with New Delhi's stance being absolutely critical for the trilateral's revival, Indian experts said.
The strengthening of strategic coordination among Russia, India and China, glimpses of which were seen during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Tianjin for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, remains a "critical pillar of a multipolar world", Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician Savio Rodrigues told Sputnik India on Tuesday.
"It is not about bloc politics but about strategic convergence — energy security, trade routes, counterterrorism, and a rebalanced global order. The future lies in collaborative multipolarity, and India, under Modi, is at the very heart of shaping it," Rodrigues remarked.
The BJP leader said that the sense of "nervousness" in Washington following Modi's SCO visit reflected "India's growing geopolitical weight".
"The US knows that Modi has managed what few leaders could - striking a fine balance between engaging the West while simultaneously strengthening strategic relations with Russia, China, and the larger Eurasian bloc. For decades, America dictated the terms of global alignment, but today India’s independent and pragmatic diplomacy under Modi has disrupted that old order," explained Rodrigues.
The comments come against the backdrop of reactions from the US administration to Prime Minister Modi's visit to Tianjin for the SCO Heads of States (HOS) meeting, where he rubbed shoulders with President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin. In recent weeks, senior US officials, including Trade Advisor Peter Navarro and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, have intensified their attacks on India for purchasing Russian oil, also slapping a 25% additional tariff on Indian imports for New Delhi's crude purchases.
Taking a conciliatory tone after Modi concluded his visit, Bessent expressed hope that the "two great countries will come together". Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that India has offered to cut its tariffs to nothing, even as Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday that the India-US negotiations were still ongoing.
Amid the US pressure, Modi not only decided to pay a visit to China after seven years, but also chose to post pictures of his informal trilateral interactions with Xi and Putin on his official social media handles. The Indian PM held separate bilateral meetings with Xi and Putin.
According to Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Modi and Xi have decided to treat each other as "partners and not rivals".
"This is the framing of the relationship. Both leaders have done this framing of the relationship. This is what is desired. And this is what they see as the future of the relationship as well," Misri briefed reporters after the meeting, during which both leaders also agreed to strengthen trade ties in a bid to "stabilise" global trade amid the US tariff onslaught and reduce the bilateral trade deficit due to "political and strategic factors".
Modi told Xi that peace and stability along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) was critical for the Sino-India normalisation process.
Meanwhile, on predictable lines, Modi and Putin reinforced the time-tested India-Russia bond, as they vowed to further strengthen their energy cooperation.
Explaining the 'Sino-India thaw', BJP's Rodrigues said that it could help "reinforce multilateralism" in Asia and the world.
"Both Modi and Xi understand that unilateralism and protectionism—whether in tariffs or in global security—pose challenges that cannot be countered individually. Strengthening economic and strategic ties between India and China ensures that no single global power can enforce its hegemonistic agenda unchecked," the ruling party politician said.
On the other hand, Commodore (retired) Seshadri Vasan, a former Indian Navy veteran and Director of Indian think tank Chennai Centre for Chinese Studies (C3S), told Sputnik India that Modi's China visit has sent a "clear and crisp message" to the world. "No country can afford to ignore India, the world’s biggest market and an emerging economic powerhouse," Vasan said.
The Indian think tank chief said that the RIC, whose leaders last met on the margins of the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires in 2018, has found a "new resonance" due to the 50% US tariffs against India, adding that the three Eurasian powers have a significant role to play in shaping the emerging world order.
There is no official word from the Indian side whether the prospects of RIC's revival were discussed at the Tianjin Summit.
"We already saw the chemistry displayed among PM Modi, President Putin and President Xi in the picture shared by Prime Minister Modi himself. So, the RIC trilateral might as well be reinvented in a different form. But, a lot will depend on the developments in India-US as well as Sino-India ties," Vasan highlighted.
He said that as far as India is concerned, "all options remain on the table" in dealing with the unilateral and unfair US policies, in case the tariff talks don't come to fruition.
"This includes reinvigorating the RIC mechanism, cooperation which has suffered in the wake of the tragic Galwan Valley clashes in 2020. India's decision on how to engage with China bilaterally and within multilateral formats would depend on the response from the US, as much as it will depend on Beijing upholding its commitments with New Delhi," he explained.
Vasan said that India's strategic autonomy could be exercised in a number of ways to leverage the "national interest".
"While India has been clear that it would pursue strategic autonomy for its national interest and not be involved in bloc politics, whether it is part of RIC or Quad, a lot of unexpected things could happen as well," he said.
At the same time, it is important to underscore that India-Russia ties would continue to remain a geopolitical constant. The US tariff threats against India have had the opposite effect, as Prime Minister Modi and President Putin agreed to further strengthen their energy cooperation at the meeting in Tianjin, Vasan highlighted.
Vasan said that even though the Sino-India 'thaw' wasn't driven by US tariffs, the timing of the SCO Summit had presented India with the option of exercising its strategic autonomy by showing to the US that New Delhi wasn't bereft of choices. The Indian readout of the Modi-Xi meeting made it clear that the bilateral ties shouldn’t be viewed from the perspective of a third country. However, the timing of the SCO Summit is incidental and to India's advantage, he noted.
Vasan said that New Delhi has its own interests to take care of as both New Delhi and Beijing take calibrated steps to mend ties.
"These include leading the interests of Global South, upholding multilateralism, bolstering counter-terror cooperation, sustaining a high GDP growth and developing its industrial base in renewables and semiconductors, which involve imports of rare earth minerals," said Vasan.
With the fallout of US tariffs on India's labour-intensive sectors, I believe that India remains quite conscious of the fact that its GDP growth, as of now, cannot be sustained unless some other options are explored, which include strengthening economic ties with China. Of course, India is hoping that good sense prevails in Washington so that years of hard work which have gone into building the India-US ties don’t go in the dustbin of history, the retired Indian Commodore concluded.
