- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 03/Sep 07:23

World Map being redrawn

“THE ENEMY of my enemy is my friend.” The meaning of that proverb, which some trace to ancient India, has been on display this week in China. There, in the modern incarnation of the walled city of Tianjin, unprecedented scenes played out as Xi Jinping hosted Narendra Modi and Vladimir Putin on August 31. To watch Mr Xi, Mr Modi and Mr Putin rub shoulders, smiling, joking and even holding hands, was to witness the dismantling of the world order in place since the end of the Second World War. Precipitating it all is Donald Trump. Just a few weeks ago, Mr Xi was absent from July’s BRICS summit in Brazil, which was supposed to be a showcase of forces challenging Global North hegemony. Mr Putin also skipped. Mr Modi attended and, en route, stopped in this country for a gander. But the feeling was that the resistance was languishing. Yet one day in politics is a long time. Mr Xi’s BRICS-like grouping, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which met this week ahead of a military display today, September 3, is a paper tiger no more. Even Kim Jong-un is along for the ride. Beijing and New Delhi have in the past feuded over border issues. Moscow and Beijing, meanwhile, have been rivals for regional dominance, if not frenemies. Russia and India have had seemingly good ties, too, but India’s alliance with the US has led to it being perceived as an American counterweight. Not anymore. Tariffing India by 50 per cent this month, Mr Trump might have expected Mr Modi to bow down. Instead, the Indian leader made his first trip to China in seven years. The White House has pushed a friend into the arms of its foes. TT, an ally of the US, India and China, must take special note, especially given American sabre-rattling on Russia-backed Venezuela and the need to preserve a Caribbean zone of peace. Tight is and tight must be our diplomatic tightrope act. Powerful is the message sent through body language this week. But also striking is Mr Xi’s reference at his summit to “bullying behaviour.” “We must uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and support the multilateral trading system,” he said. Mr Trump ostensibly wishes to punish India for buying Russian oil and weapons amid the war in Ukraine. Yet, he has normalised the purveyor of that war, Mr Putin. August was a wonderful month for the Russian leader. Without a single concession, he won a meeting with Mr Trump, who now appears to be the isolated one on the global stage. US tariffs risk destroying the trading system long seen as a guarantee of peace. But China’s summit shows the global majority might yet fight back. The post World Map being redrawn appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.