Chinese media quotes 'Hindu proverb' to cheer on PM Modi's Beijing visit: ‘Help your brother's boat across..’

Despite no official confirmation coming from India or host China, reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting have been cheered by Chinese state media ‘Global Times’. Welcoming the Prime Minister to China, the report hailed Modi’s potential visit as a move that could benefit their respective development and contribute to regional peace and prosperity.

“As a Hindu proverb goes, 'Help your brother's boat across, and your own will reach the shore," the report said, adding that “deepening cooperation through the SCO not only benefits their respective development, but also contributes to regional peace and prosperity.”  

Quoting Indian media reports about Narendra Modi’s impending visit, the ‘Global Times’ said Modi’s visit has gained global attention. The Prime Minister’s visit is a favourable chance to solidify the thaw in China-India relations. The report also hoped for a healthy China-India relationship, stating that the country awaited a new chapter of "the dragon and the elephant dancing together."

The Chinese state mouthpiece, however, took a dig at the US, stating its attempt to rope in India to contain China in the Indo-Pacific does not align with former’s foreign policy. Modi’s visit was interpreted by some Western media as “an attempt to hedge against the US”. Calling such views one-sided, Global Times justified India and Modi, stating “free trade and countering unilateral tariffs is the shared will of most countries”.

It said China did not view China-India cooperation as a weapon against any third party. “As two ancient civilisations with long-standing friendly exchanges, two major emerging economies, and key members of the Global South”, both countries share common interests and their relationship follows its own historic logic.

The article comes at a time when the India-China relationship witnesses a thaw and China’s public support for India against Trump. Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, took India’s side on Thursday when he took a jab at US President Donald Trump after his tariff imposition on countries, including India. "Give the bully an inch, he will take a mile," the Chinese envoy to India wrote on X.