US lawmakers meeting Modi after Dalai Lama signals New Delhi shift on China: analysts

“Had a very good exchange of views with friends from the US Congress in a delegation,” Modi posted on X, formerly Twitter, adding that he “deeply” valued the “strong bipartisan support in advancing the India-US comprehensive global strategic partnership”.

The delegation’s visit coincided with a trip by US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell to New Delhi, where both sides agreed to increase cooperation in hi tech and vowed to further bolster military ties.

As images of Modi with the US delegation were shared on social media, experts argued that New Delhi was reshaping its China policy amid territorial tensions and strengthening relations with the US, while some cautioned about a “real risk” of escalating the China-India border conflict as a consequence.

“India has once again indicated that it is willing to gradually ramp up pressure on issues like Tibet and Taiwan,” said Harsh Pant, an international relations professor at King’s College London.

India’s foreign policy towards China, he said, has been undergoing a “gradual calibrated change” since 2020, when a border clash killed at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers in the Ladakh region.

Since then, multiple rounds of diplomatic and military-level talks have failed to normalise relations. Both nations maintain a significant number of troops and advanced weaponry along the border. In April, Beijing said that the border dispute was “not the entirety” of its relations with New Delhi, calling for steady ties.

But Pant said that New Delhi had made it clear that unless Beijing recognized “India’s concerns and sensitivities and respects Indian interests”, it was not moving from that posture.

India, which has long hosted the Dalai