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This is what people said about sanctioning Russia. History shows that America putting pressure on people to cut off their trade for American geopolitical reasons is a pretty big driver of anti-American sentiment and disentangling from American trade systems.
If we are in a shooting war with China we will be bringing significantly more pressure on our friends and allies not to trade with China than we did for Ukraine. If China and the US are at war than this is WWIII and every country on Earth is going to be asking themselves the question: whose side do I want to be on? The US or the Chinese? I can't imagine India choosing China. China, the bellicose country that keeps trying to push the border with India. China, the country that killed 20 Indian soldiers as recently as 2020. China, the country that has been arming and allying with Pakistan against India. China, the country that keeps building dams in Tibet across the headwaters of major Indian rivers. China, the country Indians have a 67% unfavorable view of (in contrast, 70% of Indians view the US favorably).
If China is going to war with the US then India will be the first to stick a knife in their side.
EDIT: Also, of course they resisted Russian sanctions: they like Russia! They've been great friends with Russia since the 40s, back when it was the USSR. They like the Russians more than they like us, Russia sells them a lot of weapons, they and the Russians go way back. We should not expect India to treat China anything like they treated Russia recently.
They WON'T. That’s my point. They’re going to be asking ‘how do I stop these maniacs ruining my economy while they try to kill each other?’
People do in fact like America slightly better than China, and will probably provide quiet help, but
is exactly how you discourage that behaviour.
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