Xi-Trump Summit: US-China G2 Rapprochement to Avoid Thucydides Trap

Sep 25

The summit meeting of the leaders of China and the United States in Washington appears to signal a rapprochement between the two superpowers. President Trump has repeatedly referred to what he calls "G2", without mentioning "G7" or "G20", the groups that include many more countries. This development is seen as positive for world peace but it diminishes India's significance as a "counterweight to China" and the benefits Indians expected to flow from the US-China confrontation in Asia.

President Trump Personally Welcomed President Xi at Andrews Air Force Base

The fact that President Trump personally received President Xi at Andrews Air Force Base upon his arrival is yet another indication that the US now recognizes China as a peer competitor. President Xi, for his part, has talked about the need for the two superpowers to avoid the "Thucydides Trap", a reference to the potential for war between an established superpower and a rising superpower.

Top American officials have been preparing for this moment for several years. In an interview on Fox News, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Brian Kilmeade in 2025 that “China is going to be a rich and powerful country. No matter what we do, that’s what – we’re going to have to deal with that. But we have to deal with the reality. What we cannot have is a world where China is so powerful, we depend on them. And that’s right now where we’re headed, unfortunately. That’s going to change. That’s going to change under President Trump”.

Anthony Blinken who preceded Secretary Rubio made a similar acknowledgement earlier in 2022: “China is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and, increasingly, the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to do it,”

"One of the most complex and arguably most important relationships we have is the one with China. There are aspects of contestation, there are aspects of cooperation, and we want to avoid conflict. They're a lot bigger than we are, their market's a lot bigger, their manufacturing is three times ours, they've got more ships, they put forward more papers and more patents. As strong and as powerful as we are, playing one-on-one can be tough", Blinken added later in 2023.

The Beijing-Washington rapprochement is clearly in Pakistan's interest. Islamabad has long sought to balance its foreign policy between China and the United States through a pragmatic hedging strategy, gaining economic, military, and diplomatic benefits from both superpowers while maintaining strategic autonomy. But the relationship between Pakistan and China is not the same as the one between Pakistan and the United States. Pakistan's ties with China are strategic while those with the United States remain tactical and transactional. What has changed recently is that Pakistan is no longer waging war to help the United States as it did during the "Cold War" and the "War on Terror". Instead, Pakistan has emerged as a peacemaker between the US and Iran.

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Riaz Haq

gnis Rex
@Ignis_Rex
Regional Power, Global Pretender: India’s Great Power Illusion

So, let’s cut through the rhetoric. India is not a Great Power. It is, at best, a regional power—a South Asian heavyweight that can balance Pakistan, poke at China, and provide Washington with a convenient talking point.

But global power? No. India lacks the economy, the military autonomy, the technological depth, and the geopolitical leverage. It remains a junior partner, a subcontractor, a sidekick.

And until India stops sending its men overseas to work as cheap labourers, stops importing weapons, stops outsourcing its tech talents, and stops clinging to Washington’s approval, it will remain what it has been since 1962: a regional power that talks like a giant but gets humbled whenever the real giants step onto the stage.

https://x.com/Ignis_Rex/status/2112302040504533003?s=20

on Tuesday
Riaz Haq

India’s average rocket launch cost stood at $13,302 per kg, the highest among six major space markets
India’s Rocket Launch Costs Over $13k Per Kg, Four Times Higher Than US
The findings highlight a challenge for India's commercial space ambitions, even as private companies begin entering the launch market

https://www.outlookbusiness.com/deeptech/indias-rocket-launch-costs...

The figure was more than four times the US cost of $3,225 per kg
Limited launch frequency and smaller rocket payload capacities are key factors behind the gap

India has the highest rocket launch costs among six major spacefaring markets, with the average cost of placing payload into low Earth orbit estimated at $13,302 per kg at the end of 2025 — more than four times the US figure of $3,225 per kg, according to a study published in the peer-reviewed journal Economics Letters.
First reported by Mint, the study by Alessio Terzi of the University of Cambridge and Francesco Nicoli of Politecnico di Torino placed India above the European Union, Russia, China and Japan in terms of launch costs.

Europe was the next most expensive market at $9,897 per kg, followed by Russia at $6,682, China at $5,809 and Japan at $5,287, the study said.The research analysed more than 6,740 rocket launches between 1960 and 2025 to assess how accumulated experience and launch activity affect costs.

India's estimates were based on launches coordinated by NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL), the commercial arm of the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), using a mix of domestic launch vehicles, as per Mint.

on Tuesday
Riaz Haq

Maitreya Bhakal
@MaitreyaBhakal
India might be poor in manufacturing, but it's very efficient in manufacturing excuses. Indian and western propagandists have a ready inventory of reasons to explain why India lags behind China.

First, the excuse was that India launched its economic liberalization a decade later than China. So obviously, India will take time to catch up.

Then, the excuse became that India's "democracy" - once trumpeted as an advantage over China - was now the very thing holding India back. India can't just force through reforms or policies like authoritarian China can. And that's why India cannot develop as fast as China.

Today, they have yet another excuse: India lags behind China because China itself is "throttling" and "stiffling" India's rise. China doesn't want a rival and is hellbent on destroying any chance India has of developing its own industry and manufacturing.

In summary, everyone is to blame for India's failures - except India itself. India is completely blameless, it's all someone else's fault, or just bad luck or poor timing.

Such blame games reveal a lot about the Indian liberal mindset. Attributing all of India's failures to some external factor provides a psychological excuse and a convenient justification for incompetence. If it's always someone else's fault, no matter what you do, it will never be enough. So what's the point in doing anything at all?

Blaming others is an easy way to absolve oneself of blame - and escape responsibility for one's own failures. Indians themselves are never to be blamed for anything about India, the fault always lies somewhere else.

https://x.com/MaitreyaBhakal/status/2112503670214734209?s=20

on Tuesday

PakAlumni Worldwide: The Global Social Network

Xi-Trump Summit: US-China G2 Rapprochement to Avoid Thucydides Trap

Riaz Haq

Riaz Haq

Riaz Haq