US's ties with China and India not 'zero-sum relationship,' expert says

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It was just a few weeks ago when US President Donald Trump accused India of seeking to profit from the Paris climate accord. But that seems like a distant past.

In a tweet over the weekend Trump called Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi “a true friend,” and as the two leaders met at the White House there was much to talk about.

President Donald Trump (right) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India (left), held a joint press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House, on Monday, June 26, 2017. /VCG Photo

CGTN spoke to Haiyan Wang, managing partner for the China India Institute and co-author of “Getting China and India Right,” about how China would be looking at this meeting.

Wang said that China will be observing and tracking the meeting very closely, noting that the relationship between the US and India versus the US and China should not be seen as some sort of a "zero-sum relationship."

President Xi Jinping and Trump have both defined the bilateral relationships between their countries as "one of the most important, major power relationships," she said.

"I think that whether it’s trade, whether it’s investment, whether it’s cooperation in resolving major global issues such as North Korea’s denuclearization, US and China will have to cooperate and collaborate very closely."

"And if we look into a long-term horizon, US, China or China, US and India are bound to be the three largest economies in the world. Specifically, in ten years’ time India will be the third largest economy and China sooner or later, taking over the largest economy, so we expect the triangular relationships on all fronts will be extremely important," she noted.