UPSC Darpan

International RelationsGS230 September 2026

Jaishankar Says US and China Are in “Competitive Mode”, Urges De-Risking and Diversification

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The news

New York. In his first remarks on last week’s Trump–Xi meeting, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar told the Asia Society Policy Institute on Monday, September 28, that the US and China have “points of convergence” but are “overall… in a competitive mode”, The Indian Express reports. With “limits to what the two of them can agree upon”, other countries ask: “How do we de-risk? How do we diversify? Which are the new partners?” De-risking means reducing dependence on any one supplier or partner without cutting ties. New today is the official line that India and the US have “more or less an understanding on the trade agreement”, after early hopes met a “much more complex” reality. If India’s concern over terrorism from Pakistan is “not fully appreciated” by a partner, he warned, it affects the relationship. The syllabus link is GS2 on the effect of other countries’ policies on India.

The chain in one line: Trump’s tariffs unsettle US partners → Xi visits Washington and the trade truce is extended → both recall being allies of 1945 → Jaishankar reads competition with limited convergence → India speaks of de-risking and a near-agreed US trade understanding

Static syllabus linkage

  1. Strategic autonomy is about keeping choices, not staying equidistant. Strategic autonomy means India judges its interests case by case and avoids alliances that would commit it to another power’s wars. In practice it works as multi-alignment: India joins overlapping groups such as the Quad, BRICS and the SCO, each for a different purpose. The Quad of India, the US, Japan and Australia began in 2007, was revived in 2017 and has held leaders’ summits since 2021.
  2. The UN Charter still names the defeated powers of 1945 as “enemy states”. Articles 53, 77 and 107 of the UN Charter refer to Second World War enemies of the signatories, chiefly Japan and Germany. Though obsolete, they remain because amending the Charter under Article 108 needs a two-thirds General Assembly vote and ratification by two-thirds of members, including all five permanent members.

Why UPSC loves this

  1. Great-power rivalry and India’s choices is a standing GS2 theme. GS2 asks about “effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests”. A G2-style understanding is such an effect; answers must weigh hedging against alignment.

Prelims nuggets

  • The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue comprises India, the United States, Japan and Australia; it was revived in 2017 after a first meeting in 2007.
  • Articles 53, 77 and 107 of the UN Charter contain the “enemy state” clauses relating to the Second World War.
  • The People’s Republic of China was proclaimed in 1949; the Republic of China, now in Taiwan, was the wartime ally of the United States.

Analysis

  1. “Competitive mode” is good news for India, within limits. If the US and China were true partners, Asia would have to accept whatever order they agreed. Because they remain rivals, both need other countries, which gives India bargaining room. That room shrinks whenever the two agree over India’s head, and India must plan for both at once.
  2. Lens — Strategic autonomy and partnership: de-risking is autonomy made practical. India cannot lean on China while the border dispute is live, nor fully on a US that downplays India’s concern over Pakistan-backed terrorism. De-risking spreads supply chains, markets and defence ties so no single capital can coerce India. The sensible judgement is to close the near-agreed US trade deal alongside deals with Europe, the Gulf and East Asia, not instead of them.
  3. History is being used as a weapon, and India is absent from the story. C. Raja Mohan argues in The Indian Express that by calling the US and China victorious allies of 1945, Beijing presses Japan and weakens the “San Francisco System” of US alliances built on the 1951 peace settlement with Japan. China also opposes deleting the Charter’s “enemy state” clauses. He notes that 2.3 million Indians served under arms, yet a divided freedom movement left India without a shared account of the war, weakening its claim to the top table.

Possible Mains question

“The rest of us are coming to terms with a very different America.” In this context, evaluate de-risking and diversification as India’s response to US–China rivalry. (15 marks, 250 words)

Model approach

  1. Directive — Evaluate. Judge how far de-risking protects India.
  2. Introduction — Jaishankar reads the Trump–Xi meeting as competition with limited convergence. Define de-risking in one line.
  3. De-risking works because rivalry keeps both powers in need of partners. Near-agreed US trade understanding; the Quad; spread supply chains.
  4. It has limits when the two converge over India’s head. Trade truces; the terrorism concern unmet. Value addition — Raja Mohan on the ‘San Francisco System’.
  5. India must also claim its history and institutions. 2.3 million Indians served in the Second World War. Diagram: India at the centre, arrows to the US, EU, Gulf, Japan, ASEAN.
  6. Conclusion — diversify partners, close the US deal, keep choices open. Autonomy is the number of options retained.

Administrator's brainstorm

An interview board asks: if the US and China reach a broad understanding, is India’s strategic autonomy finished?

No. Autonomy was never about being courted by both; it is about keeping choices. A US–China understanding would narrow India’s leverage, so India should deepen ties with Europe, Japan, the Gulf and ASEAN and build domestic capability. The two will still compete in Asia and need India there.