New Delhi, Aug. 24 -- India staged one of its most compressed diplomatic blitzes of the year on Monday, with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in Moscow holding India-Russia BRICS summit talks while National Security Adviser Ajit Doval touched down in the Chinese capital - two missions, two capitals, one day, and a clear signal about where New Delhi has positioned itself in a world that no longer waits for countries to choose sides.

an elevation in diplomatic protocol that suggests Beijing is treating this round as more than a routine procedural exchange, according to an announcement by China's Foreign Ministry on Monday.

The talks come after a striking convergence of bilateral progress. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in T...