I was at a coffee shop recently and overheard a comment from a young man, who was with, I think, his parents. It was quite an odd and intriguing question so when I was leaving I went up to him and asked him what that was about. He was a bit embarrassed but finally said, “the baby would be the Middle East—a lot of people are moving from London to the Gulf, he said, and China, of course, is everywhere”. Except India, I thought.
China is MENA’s (Middle East and North Africa) largest trading partner with total trade exceeding $500 billion in 2025, having transitioned from being primarily an oil buyer to a major economic, digital, and strategic partner. Further, it is the largest trading partner for more than 120 countries from across the world, including the EU, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, and Brazil.
In the US, China, while still a huge trade partner, has recently been pushed to number 2 or 3, behind Mexico and, sometimes Canada; however, the US has been at daggers drawn (and sometimes sheathed) as it tries—and usually fails—to constrain China on trade and, indeed, geopolitics.
In India, we have been spinning our wheels trying to engage with Trump, although the good news is his instability has triggered a wave of negotiating energy as we have signed trade agreements—some extremely long-pending—left, right, and centre. However,
we still appear to be steering clear of the grand red horse, unlike the rest of the world.
I understand we’ve had difficulties at the border over the past few decades, but the reality is that China is our next-door neighbour, several times stronger than us, a leading force in technology and infrastructure (in addition, of course, to a range of intermediate and finished industrial goods), and, any which way you look at it, it is the future. It is foolishness not to engage with them in as many ways as we can.
As an example, China is having difficulties with their falling numbers of young people, whereas India has millions of young people who desperately need jobs (and, as a precursor, some meaningful training/education)—perhaps, this could be an opportunity to build a win-win for both countries.
I have been pondering the India/China relationship for several months now and, unsurprisingly, I seem to find thoughts about it almost everywhere I look, including the young man in the coffee shop. Ideas don’t belong to any individual but rather when something strikes you it is because it is in the air, so to speak, and several other people are also thinking about it. It also suggests that we are all on to something, which generally means that change is on the cards.
A good friend, R Gopalakrishnan, an eminent professional who has spent decades with HUL and the Tatas, has recently published a book (with a colleague, Nirmala Isaac) titled Chanakya and Sun Tzu: A Business Lens on Trade, Thought and Travel, in which he points out that for several thousand years the Indian and Chinese civilisations thrived independently and as neighbours, actively trading and sharing ideas with each other, with near-zero tension or any significant interest in conquest. It is only since the arrival of the colonial powers that tensions started to build up from the opium wars to the takeover of Tibet to the incursions at our borders.
While none of this is excusable, perhaps a better understanding of the whys and, critically, a clear focus on what India and China can achieve together could—hopefully—set both countries on a path of more meaningful engagement.
Gopal’s book, which uses a business lens focused on trade, thought, and travel, enumerates a wide array of possible synergies, including the need for Indians, at all levels, to think and learn more about China. A Thai friend of mine pointed out recently that when he goes to China, he sees Buddha, an Indian man, everywhere, and India is visible at several levels of life; when he comes to India, the only Chinese elements he sees is dozens of Chinese restaurants.
I remember several decades ago, when I lived in New York, a friend of mine (who worked for the Wall Street Journal) told me she was starting to learn Mandarin—my reaction was “why?” Now I know.
Importantly, there are more and more people in India who are recognising the need to engage with China culturally—and about time too. Another example is the India China Academy, which is (as yet) the “sole Chinese Learning and Testing Center sanctioned by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) in India”, which has approached Gopal to speak to them on his book.
And, finally, to answer the question in the title of this article (thank you, Gopal), if Europe and China were to have a baby, it would be called Suzie Wong!
The author is CEO of Mecklai Financial
Disclaimer: The views expressed are the author’s own and do not reflect the official policy or position of Financial Express.