India, Oct. 8 -- America's imposition of sharp tariff hikes on Indian exports has led to an unexpected rapprochement between India and China, one that has momentous global geopolitical and geoeconomic implications. Against the backdrop of a rather unexpected disorder in trade relations between India and the US, this provides significant tailwinds to a Global South agenda where two of its most populous stakeholders are looking to find ways of working together as the multilateral order suffers serious fractures.

India's strategy of engagement with China must provide the policy space for both countries to achieve shared goals and impart resilience to a Global South agenda that can navigate the realities of the disrupted global order. There ...