The Dragon and the Tiger: A Review of Sino-Indian Relations in the Twenty-First Century World Order

India became the first non-socialist country to diplomatically recognize the People’s Republic of China in 1950. With the signing of the Panchsheel agreement, both countries began their relationship on an equal footing. However, a long period of bitter rivalry and unresolved border disputes erupted into a war in 1962. During the cold war era, both countries were in opposite camps with India signing a friendship treaty with USSR, and China moving closer to USA. Post-1990s, the situation began to change with the emergence of China as a major manufacturing hub, and India’s economic reforms. This led to the development of close economic relations between the two countries. In the 21st Century, India and China are fast rising as economic giants. While the growth of China has been at a very rapid pace, India is not very far behind. As rising Asian powers, both have committed to promoting peace, stability, and development in the international context. Post-Doklam standoff, India and China relations witnessed a new wave of optimism for a progressive and engaging partnership. This was an outcome of a continuous exchange of political and official visits from both sides. Besides, the bilateral engagements, the two countries also cooperated in multilateral forums such as BRICS and SCO. These exchanges have not been successful in ensuring permanent goodwill as both share a complex and competitive relationship. At the root of mutual distrust is the unresolved border dispute, which remains a major obstacle in the bilateral relationship. While China has resolved 17 of the 23 territorial disputes since 1949, limited progress has been made in the dispute with India under the special representative’s framework, which has been in place since 2003. Other than the border issue, their respective encirclement policies, the issue of autonomy of Tibet, China’s long-standing relations with Pakistan, India’s growing relations with the United States, the nuclear arms race, competition for natural resources, etc. have added to the mutual suspicion and distrust. Their mutual relationship will have a significant impact not only in Asia but on the whole world. Therefore, how they manage this complex and competitive relationship will critically shape international relations in the twenty-first century. This chapter examines the developments in India-China relations during the last 75 years from the time of their inauguration as contemporary countries in the late 1940s to the present. It evaluates the implications of the changing nature of their relationship in Asia. The chapter ends with an assessment of the future of India-China relations.