Russia–India–China ‘Trio’ to end Trump’s bullying
The way U.S. President Trump has been displaying his dominance after announcing and implementing tariff hikes on the entire world, it has become necessary to give him a fitting response. The tariff bomb that Trump dropped on India has been met with a strong reply from New Delhi. If India has had a decades-old friendship with Russia and buys oil from it, what issue could anyone possibly have with that? But the United States does not like the India–Russia friendship. It also disapproves of India purchasing oil from Russia. That is why it keeps issuing fresh threats to raise tariffs on India. The world is now searching for ways to counter Trump’s threats. Amid rapidly changing global events, it is also being said that if Russia, India, and China (RIC) were to unite, Washington would truly be shaken.
On the surface, this appears to be a strong option that could assert its dominance on the global stage. However, when it comes to China, the ground realities and complexities are far greater. Yet, there is also a view that India and China are the great powers of Asia, and their coming together is the need of the hour amid today’s global confrontations. It is also true that in the past two years, India and China have worked to thaw the ice in their relations through mutual cooperation.
The initiative to grant visas to Indian and Chinese tourists, and the reduction in troop deployment to ease tensions in the Galwan Valley, have shown good results. Both countries have now ended border tensions and are moving towards a possibility called the Russia–India–China alliance. Prime Minister Modi is a visionary leader, and his announcement on August 31 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) could prove to be a major milestone on the world map. Ironically, the credit for the potential emergence of RIC should go to Trump himself, who first increased tariffs on India by 25%, and then, implementing his threat, raised them by another 25% last week, bringing the total to 50%. Developments and activities in this direction have already begun.
Russia is emphasizing the revival of the RIC trio to reduce India–China tensions and balance Western influence. Meanwhile, India, while maintaining its strategic autonomy, is considering this option carefully.
The truth is that in recent years, global geopolitics has changed rapidly. In this changing world, Russia, India, and China are actively working towards reviving the RIC trilateral platform. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recently expressed a desire to reactivate this platform, saying that tensions between India and China have “significantly” reduced and that the suspended work of the RIC group could resume. In Moscow, he stated that restoring joint work under the RIC format could be the first step towards building a multipolar framework and shaping Eurasian processes.
If we look back at the history of three decades ago, we find that the Russia–India–China trilateral platform began in the late 1990s, when then Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov proposed it as an alternative strategic alliance against a U.S.-centric unipolar world order. The purpose of this platform was to promote the shared interests of the three countries and to strengthen multilateral cooperation on the global stage. In the 2000s, this platform worked complementarily with other multilateral forums like BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). But it is also true that after the violent clashes between India and China in the Galwan Valley in 2020, the RIC platform became almost inactive. The border dispute and rising mistrust between the two countries weakened the trio. Meanwhile, after the Ukraine war, the closeness between Russia and China kept increasing.
Russia believes that there has been progress towards calming the situation along the India–China border, and that now is the right time to revive the RIC platform. Russia feels that the rebirth of RIC would help balance Western influence and give the three countries an opportunity to work towards an independent, multipolar world order.
India, which has been a long-standing partner of Russia for decades, can play an important balancing role in this context. India’s strategic autonomy and its growing role on the global stage make it attractive for Russia. In fact, India has maintained an independent policy in global geopolitics.
It is true that Russia, India, and China are all key members of BRICS. Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has gone on record to say, “I genuinely hope that we will be able to restart the work of the ‘Russia–India–China’ trilateral group.”
In recent months, there have been some signs of improvement in India–China relations. The October 2024 agreement to withdraw troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh helped end a four-year-long standoff. In addition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the BRICS Summit 2024, as well as repeated meetings between the foreign ministers, have been positive steps towards normalizing relations. Now, at the SCO, PM Modi could achieve a great deal.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also said in March 2025 that cooperation between the two countries is the “only correct option.” This stance came at a time when Donald Trump’s return in the United States had created uncertainty in global geopolitics. As of today, Trump’s “America First” policy is creating economic and strategic challenges for both India and China, prompting them to think about increasing cooperation with each other. However, the trust gap between India and China is still deep. During Operation Sindoor (2025), Pakistan’s use of Chinese weapons against India further escalated tensions.
The truth is that the formation of RIC reflects Russia’s commitment towards India. The future of this initiative depends on how effectively India and China can resolve their bilateral issues, especially the border dispute. But under the current circumstances, the formation of RIC would be a strong response to the United States—both for the world and for ourselves.