India, China can work together to fight Trump’s protectionism, says Chinese media

In the wake of the informal 'relationship resetting' meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan in China in April end and the trade talks between the delegates of the US and China in Beijing last week, the Global Times came up with a piece stressing on cooperation between India and China despite their competition to "find a common ground" against Washington's protectionist measures.

The story, titled 'China, India can rise above competition to work against Trump's protectionism' said the rise of "Make in India" would probably pit China and India in an intensified competition against each other in some industries but at the same time, it would also help them find a common ground to serve their respective national interests to resist the pressure of trade protectionism.

It said interaction between Beijing and New Delhi increased since US President Donald Trump made his mind known about resorting to a trade war.

"In late April, India joined China and several other countries at the WTO to warn the US about its unilateral trade measures imposed under Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974, according to Indian media outlets. Now, the two Asian countries should go further to align their strategies and plan together for mutually beneficial cooperation, to jointly restrain the rise of unilateralism and trade protectionism."

"New Delhi once took a wait-and-see attitude when it involved the trade war between China the US, but there has been a subtle change. The external environment is becoming unfriendly to the development of an export-oriented economy in the South Asian country," the piece, penned by Hu Weijia, said.

It further said that India's merchandise exports in March 2018 fell 0.7 per cent compared to what it was in the corresponding month the previous year.

" Trump's anti-globalization rhetoric has become an obstruction to India's growth into a world factory. After years of estrangement due to the notion of dragon-elephant competition, China is now an appropriate partner for India to put pressure on the White House," it added.

The Global Times article added that most countries of Asia are keeping a close watch on the possibility of an "economic alliance" between China and India.

In April, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said soon after the Modi-Jinping meeting that the countries of Southeast Asia would work more closely with "new powers" India and China to counter protectionism.

"It seems that India's increasingly close interaction with China is likely to help New Delhi gain prestige and respect among regional nations, most of which have export-oriented economies and endorse economic globalization. The recent informal meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked a milestone in bilateral relations.

China has proposed that the two Asian emerging powers should try to work together to tackle global problems," the article said, adding that after the summit set the tone of cooperation, New Delhi and Beijing needed to work out a detailed programme to tackle challenges like unilateralism and protectionism.