In his separate meeting with Xi during the BRICS summit, Modi, according to the Indian readout, raised concerns over the “structural trade imbalance,” “supply chain issues” (a reference to Beijing’s India-specific export curbs) and the need for “meaningful and predictable market access.” The irony is that the more India has protested this asymmetrical economic relationship, the more asymmetrical it has become, as the chart shows.
It is now one of the most asymmetrical economic relationships between any two major economies, giving China considerable leverage over India.
Portraying it as merely a large bilateral trade deficit obscures the reality that this is one of the world's most unequal trading relationships between major economies. Its lopsidedness creates a structural power asymmetry that increasingly constrains India's geopolitical options.
