Détente Between China and India: The Delicate Balance of Geopolitics in Asia
China and India -- combined population of 2.4 billion, 40 per cent of the world's total - have entered into a new era of cooperative relations. China is well on its way to becoming a global superpower and is expected to overtake the United States in two to three decades. While India will be no match for China in quantitative terms, in some key aspects it will be superior to China because of its much younger population, English-speaking brainpower and private high-tech enterprises. Despite rapid expansion of trade and investment, Indian trade with China is still less than one fifth of the trade volumes between China and the EU, China and the United States and China and Japan. A settlement of the disputed border between Kashmir and Xinjiang, and Tibet and the Indian Northeast remains elusive. Continuing tensions in Tibet and the presence of the Dalai Lama and his government-in-exile in India remain serious irritants against the further smooth development of relations. China's challenge to India's claim of regional leadership in the chaotic South Asia region is another source of mistrust.
As an emerging world power, China aspires to be a presence in the Indian Ocean to counter India's naval expansion and to monitor the military role of the United States in Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, Iraq and its huge naval base in Diego Garcia. In compensation, India has been making significant inroads in terms of naval activity, trade and investment in Southeast Asia. India is a classical 'swing state', partnering with Russia, Japan and the United States and in search of new ways to further improve its still fragile relations with China. An intricate set of geopolitical adjustments is to replace the now outdated unipolar moment, dominated by the American hyperpower, while new multilateral frameworks are being created. US efforts to court India as a counterweight to China and as part of a democratic coalition of the US, Japan, Australia and India have not materialized. India has repeatedly ruled out such a scheme. Japan has become lukewarm and Australia has rejected it altogether. Meanwhile, Russia is reasserting itself as a great power and is adamant to maintain its Cold War military supplier-client relationship with India against American attempts to marginalize it.
Praise for Détente Between China and India:
"This is the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and balanced study available of China's important relations with its South Asian neighbours. This well-written book illuminates the historical and contemporary contours of China's relations with India, Pakistan, and Burma, three of Beijing's most delicate and important regional relationships. The book is grounded in impressive research and it is realistic, cautioning that China's future ties with India will be a mixture of cooperative and competitive tendencies." David M. Lampton, Director of China Studies and Dean of Faculty, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University (SAIS), Washington, DC.
"Willem van Kemenade combines the analytical sophistication of an academic with a journalist's skill at clear writing, a rare combination. This book is in many ways a path breaking study of relations between China and India, analyzing not only the important bilateral relationship but also putting the India-China relationship within a larger Asian and international context." Walter Andersen, associate director of South Asia Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.