Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a message to Indian President Droupadi Murmu on the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and China, emphasised the need for closer cooperation between the two nations. He described their relationship as a “Dragon-Elephant tango”, symbolising a harmonious partnership between their emblematic animals.
Notably, this is not the first time Beijing has highlighted the ‘Dragon-Elephant tango’. In March, Beijing had renewed its call for a Dragon-Elephant tango, saying a China-India partnership was the “only right choice” for both countries.
On Tuesday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also exchanged congratulatory messages.
While ‘Dragon-Elephant tango’ has been the Chinese refrain for several years — particularly after the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers — it has been imbued with new urgency amid the geopolitical rumblings caused by Donald Trump’s foreign policy.
“China and India are each other’s largest neighbours. China always believes that the two should be partners that contribute to each other’s success,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in March 2025.
“A cooperative pas de deux (dance duet) of the dragon and the elephant is the only right choice for both sides,” Wang Yi had added.
The Chinese and Indian presidents’ conversation on April 1, comes as tensions ease after a 2020 Galwan Valley clash between their troops along their shared border in the Himalayas.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said China and India should find ways to coexist peacefully and that he was ready to deepen communication and coordination in major international affairs, and jointly safeguard peace in border areas.
China ready to buy more goods from India as US tariffs loom
China is willing to buy more Indian products to balance trade, Beijing’s Ambassador Xu Feihong said just ahead of an anticipated reciprocal tariff announcement from US President Donald Trump on April 2.
“We are willing to work with the Indian side to strengthen practical cooperation in trade and other areas, and to import more Indian products that are well-suited to the Chinese market,” the ambassador to India was quoted as saying by China’s state-run Global Times in a report posted on Monday.
Bilateral trade between India and China stood at $101.7 billion in 2023-24, according to India’s trade ministry, with India running a significant deficit. India’s main exports include petroleum oil, iron ore, marine products and vegetable oil, amounting to $16.6 billion, according to the government figures.
US President Donald Trump, who is set to roll out reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday on countries around the world, has called out China and India for trade practices that he sees as unfair.
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