Modi’s American Gamble Backfires. Content Warning. AI-Generated.
When Narendra Modi first unfurled the red carpet for Xi Jinping in 2014 — complete with a picture-perfect riverfront swing in Gujarat — it was meant to signal India’s aspirations to emulate China’s meteoric rise. Yet, even as the two leaders exchanged pleasantries, Chinese troops were edging into contested Himalayan territory, laying bare the fragility of Modi’s early charm offensive. That intrusion, the first of several, forced India into an expensive, years-long military standoff that undercut Modi’s narrative of strategic deftness.
