India, China seek to rebuild military trust to keep border calm and to promote exports

Top leaders in India and China want to maintain the peace along their border and are working to bridge a trust deficit between the militaries of the two countries, India’s senior-most army commander said, Bloomberg quotes.

“We are trying to increase trust between the military,” India’s Army Chief Upendra Dwivedi told reporters in New Delhi. “The top leadership including prime minister, defense and foreign ministers have met in the last few months” and there is urgency in among the armed forces to keep the borders calm.

In recent meetings with Chinese counterparts, Indian officials have made peace and stability along the 3,488-kilometer (2,167 miles) disputed Himalayan border central to efforts to normalize ties.

After Modi met President Xi Jinping last year, steps to deepen ties followed, including the restoration of direct flights between the two countries, which had been suspended since the Covid-19 pandemic and the border crisis. Flights resumed in October.

India exports to China jump in December as U.S. shipments fall on tariffs

India’s exports to China surged sharply in December while shipments to the United States declined, underscoring how higher U.S. tariffs are reshaping New Delhi’s trade flows and accelerating diversification toward alternative markets.

Government data released late Thursday showed exports to China jumped 67% year on year to $2 billion in December. In contrast, shipments to the U.S,India’s largest export destination, fell 1.8% to $6.8 billion.

The shift comes as the U.S., under President Donald Trump, imposed tariffs of up to 50% on Indian goods, among the highest levied on any major trading partner. The measures have strained bilateral trade ties and prompted Indian exporters to deepen engagement with Asian and other global markets.

During the first nine months of the fiscal year ending March 2026, India’s exports to mainland China rose nearly 37%, while shipments to Hong Kong increased more than 25%, reflecting a broader pivot toward East Asia.

China has now emerged as India’s largest merchandise trading partner. Trade between the two countries stood at $110.20 billion between April and December 2025, surpassing India–U.S. trade of $105.31 billion over the same period, according to data from India’s commerce ministry.

Diplomatic engagement has also picked up. India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Sun Haiyan, vice minister of the International Department of the Communist Party of China, in New Delhi to review progress in stabilising bilateral ties, with a focus on business and people-to-people exchanges. Relations have gradually thawed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in September.

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