In the annals of history, few narratives illuminate the dynamics of international relations as vividly as trade. The East India Company's interest in the Chinese markets for their homespun woollen cloth in the 16th century was one of the turning points in the commercial history of South Asia. Within the next two centuries, however, the British began to invest heavily in Chinese tea. It is no coincidence that King Charles II (1660-1685) declared tea to be the British national drink. Then came the smuggling of Indian opium into the Chinese kingdom. The contours of South Asia's commercial landscape began to shift dramatically, laying the groundwork for the complex interactions we witness today.

What this trivia reveals is that the road to international relations-friendly, hostile, or outright exploitative-is paved by trade. If murmurs around Kartavya Path are to be believed, the business community has played a significant role in the India-China military disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. This clearly implies that trade continues to be the lynchpin of diplomatic relations.

The recent agreement reached between India and China, announced on the eve of the BRICS summit and executed in a week's time, to end their military standoff signals a significant thaw in ties that had reached a nadir following a deadly clash in 2020. As Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced, this new pact enables both nations to........

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