Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi asserted that India and China should “support each other rather than undermine each other or undercut each other” The statement appears to indicate the positive momentum that India-China relations have witnessed since October 2024. After a gap of more than four years since the violent 2020 Galwan Clashes, New Delhi and Beijing have started to discuss ways to proceed ahead with border patrolling and disengagement. With this, China has also continued to reiterate that the border issue should not be the central point to base the direction of the bilateral relations. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which was launched in 2013, has helped Beijing gain a strong foothold in the region as it has used its economic prowess in the form of loans and aid to gain leverage. The first casualty was the leasing of the Hambantota Port by Sri Lanka to China in 2017 for a period of 99 years. New Delhi faces a similar challenge from the Maldives as well. The strong tilt of Male towards Beijing under the Muizzu government is a cause of concern for India.