ISLAMABAD:
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer landed in Beijing on Wednesday, marking the first visit by a British premier to China in eight years. The visit reflects a striking shift in diplomacy by the West at a time when the US-led alliance system is under strain following President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Starmer, who had previously described China as a national security threat, is now seeking engagement with President Xi Jinping — a move that underscores growing uncertainty among Washington’s traditional allies.
The British leader is not alone. In recent months, leaders from France, Ireland and Canada have also travelled to Beijing, while the German Chancellor is expected to visit China next month. These diplomatic overtures would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, when Western capitals were largely aligned in confronting Beijing over trade, technology and human rights.
The diplomatic churn coincides with a major economic realignment. Earlier this week, the 27-nation European Union and India signed a long-awaited free trade agreement, widely dubbed the “mother of all deals”.
Negotiations on the EU-India free trade pact began in 2007 but collapsed in 2013 due to sharp differences over tariffs, market access, intellectual property rights and regulatory standards. For over a decade, the agreement remained frozen, a casualty of mistrust and competing economic priorities.
Trump’s return to power changed the calculus.
His aggressive economic nationalism, heavy reliance on tariffs and transactional view of alliances pushed Brussels and New Delhi to revive talks and conclude a deal that is historic not only in scale but also in symbolism. Covering nearly two billion people and about a quarter of the global economy, the agreement is as much a geostrategic statement as a trade pact.
It signals a broader shift: America’s traditional allies are no longer waiting for Washington to set the rules. Instead, they are building parallel economic and strategic frameworks to safeguard their interests.
Both Europe and India have felt the impact of Trump’s policies. Washington imposed tariffs on Indian exports up to 50 percent on certain goods while accusing New Delhi of exploiting access to the US market and continuing to purchase Russian oil. Trump has also repeatedly threatened the EU with punitive tariffs, questioned NATO’s relevance and even floated controversial ideas such as taking over Greenland.
The EUIndia deal is, therefore, best understood as a strategic hedge against American unpredictability. By reducing dependence on the US market, both sides hope to build economic resilience in an era where globalisation is increasingly shaped by power politics rather than multilateral consensus.
Washington’s response was swift and sharp. The US commerce secretary termed the agreement “foolish,” questioning how the EU could sign a free trade deal with India while New Delhi continues to import Russian energy. The criticism reflects growing anxiety in Washington that its allies are no longer aligning their economic choices with US strategic priorities.
The deal is unlikely to be taken lightly by the Trump administration. Trump’s worldview treats trade as a zero-sum game, and any agreement that dilutes American leverage could invite retaliation through tougher tariffs or political pressure.
Yet the bigger story extends beyond trade.
Trump’s return has accelerated a global realignment that was already underway. Countries once firmly anchored in the US-led order are increasingly exploring alternative partnerships. Ironically, many Western states are now engaging China, the very power long portrayed as the principal challenger to the rules-based international system.
Ideology is giving way to pragmatism. Trump’s policies have injected deep uncertainty into the global system. Allies that once relied on Washington for economic stability and security guarantees now fear becoming targets of the same “America First” agenda.
The EU-India agreement is thus a symptom of a deeper transformation. The post-Cold War order built on US leadership, liberal trade and multilateral institutions, is gradually giving way to a fragmented landscape of overlapping alliances and competing economic blocs.
Trump did not create this shift, but he has undeniably accelerated it. By weaponising tariffs and redefining alliances as business contracts, he forced America’s partners to rethink their strategies. In this emerging world, alliances are no longer permanent and interests are no longer shaped by ideology. They are driven by necessity.
As Western leaders engage Beijing and major powers strike mega-deals without Washington’s blessing, the global order has not collapsed but it has been fundamentally reconfigured. And in this reconfiguration, US allies are no longer waiting for approval from Washington; they are writing their own rules with China emerging as a key beneficiary.
