Donald Trump, in a fit of pique that has become his trademark, recently labelled the Indo-US trade relationship “a totally one-sided disaster!” The irony is, for once, he may have stumbled upon a grain of truth—just not the one he intended. His administration’s decision to slap a punitive 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods is indeed part of a disaster, but it is a disaster of the West’s own making. It is the desperate, flailing tantrum of a fading power, and it has done more to re-align the world order than two decades of diplomatic hand-wringing. It has pushed India to finally look in the mirror and then look next door, to China.
Western powers constantly lecture us about who our friends should be. The latest absurdity is being penalised for purchasing Russian oil, a move India’s foreign ministry rightly pointed out is steeped in hypocrisy, noting “it is revealing that the very nations criticising India are themselves indulging in trade with Russia.” We are being punished for a “vital national compulsion” by nations for whom it is not. This isn’t about principles; it’s a colonial hangover, a thinly veiled racism that bubbles to the surface whenever a non-white nation asserts its own interests.
The West, whether led by Great Britain in its imperial pomp or the US in its current state of decline, has always viewed us through the prism of the white man’s burden. A civilisation as ancient, complex, and spiritually diverse as India—one that refuses to fit neatly into the simplistic boxes of Abrahamic faiths—has always been an uncomfortable reality for them. Trump’s tariff, which he imposed after a “zero-for-zero” deal failed to materialise, is not a trade calculation. It is the raw, unfiltered expression of this discomfort, an echo of a racist past they pretend to have overcome.
And so, the predictable has happened. Pushed by Washington, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not visit China for seven long years after the 2020 border clash. But faced with this stunning onslaught from a so-called ally, he flew to Tianjin to meet Xi Jinping. Suddenly, the “dragon and the elephant” are talking about being partners, not rivals. After imposing punitive tariffs and discrimination, the West now views this as a betrayal, whereas it is merely a long-overdue return to normalcy.
For the vast majority of recorded history, the world’s centre of gravity was Asia. The civilisations of India and China dominated global thought, science, technology, and prosperity. Our philosophies, art, and goods have shaped the world. The last 300 years of Western dominance have been a violent, extractive, and ultimately brief aberration. The weight of history is now shifting back to its default setting. With the majority of the world’s population and economic dynamism in Asia, this reversion is not a matter of if, but when. The renewed friendship of India and China is the first tectonic plate to move in this significant shift.
Of course, the path is fraught with pitfalls. We have a serious border dispute, where tens of thousands of troops still stand guard. India has a significant trade deficit of over $99 billion with China. And we cannot forget that Beijing has armed Pakistan, our hostile neighbour. But are these obstacles insurmountable? Most of these disputes, particularly the border lines, are festering wounds left behind by the British Empire, deliberately designed to keep their former colonies weak and divided. They are colonial relics, not eternal enmities.
We are told we must align with the West because we are a democracy. A democracy? Was it not a democratic Britain that colonised us and bled trillions from our lands? Was it not a democratic France that looted Africa? Was it not a democratic US that dropped atomic bombs on civilian populations in Japan, napalmed Vietnam, and left Iraq and Afghanistan in a hellhole of their own creation? Being merely a “democracy” is no guarantee of morality. It is a cloak for geopolitical interests, and we are fools if we continue to fall for it.
The sun is setting on the West. You can see it in their plunging birth rates, their fractured societies, and their dysfunctional politics. While a Treasury Secretary may dismiss the SCO summit as “performative”, the fact remains that it brings together not just India and China, but Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. This is the new world taking shape, whether Washington likes it or not.
The rapprochement between Delhi and Beijing, supercharged by Trump’s tariffs, is the most significant step in this direction. There will be problems, to be sure. Many of them will undoubtedly be triggered by the West. They aren’t going to go down without a fight, without trying every dirty trick in the book and many out of any book. But these are problems to be solved between two ancient civilisations rediscovering their shared destiny.
The choice is ours. We can continue to be a junior partner in a decaying world order, begging for scraps of respect from self-proclaimed white masters who will never see us as equals. Or we can embrace the immense, complicated, and challenging task of rebuilding the Asian century alongside our most natural and most formidable partner and competitor. A reliable rival in the neighbourhood is far better than a fickle and unreliable ally far away who doesn’t blink when backstabbing. Trump may do enough damage to America and the rest of the world before he leaves the stage. America may offer friendship again and extend various promises. They will try to shift public opinion by fear-mongering about China and Russia in the Indian media, and woo India as a fellow democracy. Next time, when it happens, we should be wary of such inanities and stop drooling for the white man’s approval. Colonialism worked by pitching neighbour against neighbour. When the sweet talk begins again, we should remember the wise words of the American, Henry Kissinger, who said that it may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal. Let’s not be the next fatality of America’s friendship. An Asian era is rising again.