Editors note: Ankit Prasad is a CGTN biz commentator.
The short article shows the authors views and not necessarily those of CGTN.Ten days before the 75th anniversary of the facility of diplomatic relations in between China and India, I had the fortune of going to the annual Vasant Mela (Spring fair) hosted by the Indian embassy in Beijing.
In the heart of the main business district of Chinas capital, the fair had actually left me pleasantly surprised with its rotundly cosmopolitan attendance.
Large groups of Chinese residents, among other nationalities not limited to Indians, enjoyed a happy gathering, dancing, consuming, clicking photos and having picnicks under the first warm sunny day of the year.
The event and experience was an affirmation of something Ive heard of and believed for some time - that Chinese and Indians have huge potential to get along.At the heart of it is an almost extraordinary historic balance in between what are 2 ancient and accomplished civilizations.
Going back into antiquity, they were connected by the Silk Road, Buddhism, maritime trade, prominent dynasties, world-leading performance and classical mathematics.
In more recent history, both suffered under imperialist injustice and subsequent to that, had to browse the tricky minefield of post-WW2 campism.
Having actually done so skilfully to become crucial gamers in a multipolar world, their reward is the potential to shape humankinds economic and developmental progress.Mercifully, and with no small thanks to prompt political decision-making in between the late 1970s and early 90s, China and Indias symmetry has actually also encompassed financial advancements set off by economic liberalization.
These significant reforms have actually contributed to numerous millions of people being raised from hardship.
And now, at the 75-year turning point, both nations are significantly hinting at turning over a new leaf in their bilateral ties, potentially signaling that the very best may be yet to come.Fair-goers take part in the Vasant Mela arranged by the Indian embassy in Beijing on March 22, 2025./ @EOIBeijingFair-goers take part in the Vasant Mela organised by the Indian embassy in Beijing on March 22, 2025./ @EOIBeijingFair-goers take part in the Vasant Mela organised by the Indian embassy in Beijing on March 22, 2025./ @EOIBeijingFollowing last years BRICS Summit in Kazan which signified completion of over four years of harshness, there has actually been a significant uptick in exchange of pleasantries.
Speaking on at least a set of podcasts just recently, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has narrated warm interactions with Chinese management.
For centuries, India and China have actually discovered together, contributing to the worldwide good.
I think our ties have actually been incredibly strong with deep cultural connections.
Our relationship must stay simply as strong in the future, he stated in an interview with Lex Fridman.
Our cooperation is not simply beneficial, its also essential for worldwide stability and success.
And because the 21st century is Asias century, we desire India and China to compete in a healthy and natural way, the prime minister of India proclaimed.
The message from New Delhi is clear: much water has flown through the Ganges and Yangtze; its time to collaborate in the ideal spirit for mutual benefit.Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi responded in-kind at his interview during Chinas two sessions, the annual meetings of the nations leading legislature and leading political advisory body in March, highlighting China always thinks that the 2 ought to be partners that add to each others success.
A cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant is the only ideal option for both sides.
Alongside, there has been some amount of action on the ground too.
The Indian foreign secretarys see to Beijing in January yielded the decision of rebooting direct flights in between the 2 nations, necessary to spurring people-to-people ties.
However make no error, this is simply the start.
There is a lot of work to be done.For the 2 countries that each have 1.4 billion people, are soon to be home to the 2nd and 3rd largest economies internationally, and share a long land-border along with maritime space, China and Indias $136 billion yearly trade (2023) leaves a lot to be wanted.
It must be $300 billion, stated Atul Dalakoti, executive director of Indias the majority of prominent trade association FICCI in China.
Speaking to CGTN Business along the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2025 in Hainan, Dalakoti likewise kept in mind that the trade is lopsided with a trade deficit of $100 billion in Chinas favour.
So Indian business can take a look at China and this new vigor of consumption that the Chinese government wants to push, he added.The World Bank also just recently recommended that as part of a plan for India to attain high-income country status by 2047, food processing is a high-potential and natural-fit sector for growth.
Economics of relative benefit suggest that this, in addition to Indias traditional strong-suit of services, could be an avenue of export to China and Southeast Asia as a whole.At the exact same time, Chinese business have the potential to help India in its primary politico-economic priority - creating jobs and specifically manufacturing jobs.
Denis Depoux, global handling director of Roland Berger, forecasts that Chinese companies will seek to globalize further, particularly amid the ongoing global tariff fluctuations set off by the United States.
He told CGTN at the BFA 2025 that One of the things that will take place soon is that with Chinese companies sort of soft-pedaling the pure export design a bit and going to globalization through financial investment, they will deploy capital, but they will also deploy innovation.
Depoux particularly noted solar photovoltaics and battery technologies as opportunities for this Chinese globalization - both of which are enormously pertinent for India which has actually long been reliant on pricey oil imports to satisfy its energy requires.
In 2024, India experienced a 15.8 percent increase in its eco-friendly installed capacity to 209.4 GW.
While outstanding, no country can match Chinas 1889 GW (by 2024-end) installed renewable capacity, which presents the biggest hope in the fight to accomplish net-zero emissions.
India, with its own concentrate on the renewables supply chain, clearly has a lot of scope to take advantage of Chinas proficiency.
This would likewise bode well for others offered Indias role as a consensus contractor for environment action by establishing nations.In next-gen technologies too, China and India have the opportunity to chart a period of Asian supremacy.
Deloitte Asia Pacific CEO David Hill kept in mind at the BFA 2025 that China and India are world leaders in AI adoption.
Indias infotech minister had likewise just recently praised Chinas development big language model DeepSeek for revealing what the power of the brain can achieve at affordable, based on Reuters, adding that the open-source AI design would quickly be hosted on Indian servers.As China and India enter the last 25-year stretch to the completion of a century of diplomatic ties, which will also follow soon after both countries turn 100 years old, the hope is they will both do so as thriving and established nations.
With China ahead on this course, there make sure to be avenues where India does not require to transform the wheel.
Eschewing the tendency to view affairs through a zero-sum prism might be the order of business.
And cooperation and the proverbial dance of the dragon and elephant might be the fastest and most sensible method to attain the most substantial outcomes for the most number of individuals.