Narendra Modi’s visit to China and his meeting with President Xi Jinping on Sunday represent a pragmatic yet significant moment for Indian diplomacy as New Delhi and Beijing look to find a new approach to a relationship that they both need badly. Officially, their huddle in Tianjin was the starter to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit that the northern Chinese city is hosting. But in many ways, it was the main course. Three months ago, Indian military officials were accusing China of providing Pakistan with critical intelligence and weapons support during the May clashes between the South Asian neighbours. In Tianjin, however, Mr Modi made no reference to that tension and, instead, emphasised that India was keen to strengthen relations with China citing current stability along their contested Himalayan border after a four-year-standoff between 2020 and 2024. Mr Xi argued that it was the right choice for the nations to be friends. Just as shared concerns about Chinese assertiveness served as the glue between India and the United States of America for the past two decades, the economic warfare and chaos unleashed by the US president, Donald Trump, are today bringing New Delhi and Beijing closer.

But New Delhi knows that this is an arrangement of necessity — it cannot fundamentally trust Beijing any more than it can believe in Washington today. That caution is reflected in the symbolism of some telling moves made by India on the geopolitical chessboard in recent days. On August 20, India test-fired the Agni V missile, which it does not need against Pakistan, but which can reach the farthest regions of China. Mr Modi landed in China after visiting Japan, Beijing’s regional rival and a country that, like India, has long trusted the US as a partner but now finds itself less certain about that friendship. Mr Modi is also skipping a September 3 parade Mr Xi is hosting to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Asia. The message is clear: this is a handshake with China, not an embrace. India and China cannot return to the old border management agreements that held the peace along the Line of Actual Control for decades. They need a new language of trust. That will not be easy, but neither India nor China can do without it. Mr Modi’s Tianjin meeting with Mr Xi is an important step towards that.