As power across all measures continues to shift from the West towards Asia, in the apparent realization of the much-lauded “Asian Century,” the study of Asia’s two largest states remains of ever-critical importance in global politics. As the main behemoths who look set to shape the contours of International Relations—and hence its underpinning order—as the 21st century progresses, appreciating the various dimensions of China-India relations is of increasing importance and pertinence to scholars, students, and policymakers alike. In addition, with strategic competition resurfacing between the United States and China (and the related balancing role of India taking on a much-scrutinized importance in these dynamics), and the Indo-Pacific region arguably becoming the most critical area of study in international relations, understanding the enduring China-India rivalry gains ever greater resonance. It is furthermore a bilateral relationship that, because of its centrality to contemporary Asian affairs, combined with the massive economic size of these two states, effectively pulls other major regional actors, such as Japan and Australia, towards their influence. It is within such a febrile and compelling context that this latest volume, edited under the aegis of T. V. Paul—a long-standing analyst and observer of these states and the region—enters our academic consciousness, and to which it seeks to make a lasting contribution.
Professor Paul has collected some of the most influential, as well as upcoming, voices on China-India relations from North America and Asia to investigate the key interplays and challenges facing relations between Beijing and New Delhi. These scholars acknowledge the intrinsically multi-faceted nature of the India-China relationship, which frequently oscillates between conflict and cooperation, much to the consternation of regional observers. They are also critically informed by the wider structure of international relations—not just in terms of balance of power politics but also the ever-deepening globalization. In this volume, these themes are well covered in chapters ranging from the sources of this oscillation—territory (Mahesh Shankar), status (Xiaoyu Pu), conceptions of the world order (Manjari Chatterjee Miller), balancing strategies (Zhen Han and Jean-Francois Belanger), resource competition (Calvin Chen), and water disputes (Selina Ho), to their underlying strategies—strategic cultures (Andrew Scobell) and nuclear deterrence (Vipin Narang), to their possible mitigation—globalization (Matthew A. Castle) and global governance (Feng Liu).
What chimes throughout the volume is the sense that China-India relations are beset by rivalry on all fronts; not just the much-reported border disputes, but also emerging trade configurations (China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” versus the Indo-Japan “Asia-Africa Growth Corridor”), regional leadership in South and East Asia, competition over resources (most pressingly water) and oft-competing world views and strategic cultures. Yet at the same time, these two also have a range of shared interests: both wish to benefit from globalized liberal trade in order to modernize and develop their societies, both desire a more prominent role on the global stage, and both wish to be suitably recognized as great powers by their peer powers. On this basis, as Paul notes, “enduring rivalries do not need to be intense and…they can be made less conflictual through mitigating actors and diplomatic choices that parties make” (5), which is a highly welcome and convincing refrain amidst other—frequently realist theoretical—analyses that actively seek to frame the China-India rivalry as doomed to direct conflict and all-out-war in the not-so-distant future. So too is the explicit desire for a broad theoretical and methodological plurality, with the volume’s contributions not being beholden to a fixed analytical reference point, and instead embracing—and thus reflecting—the complexity of these relations through the deployment of diverse analytical frameworks, which ostensibly stretch across the available spectrum.
The biggest question the volume raises is how these two Asian giants might successfully overcome their perceived reality, associated narratives, and—most importantly—their toxic shared history, in order to eradicate notions of rivalry from their relationship? As each contributor notes in their own way, despite their differences there are increasingly areas for positive and tangible engagement between China and India, which significantly offset more negative pressures. What underpins their contemporary interactions however are also increasing power fluctuations within the international system between West and East, which is magnifying expectations as per what kind of future the two sides will engender. Without such intrigues, and without American and other strategists being quite so obsessed with the rise of China (and more than likely the rise of India in the next decade or so), these burdens could be diminished and provide the space for China-India relations to flourish. This observation is not to say that unexpected events and shocks will not have the capacity to unwind closer ties, but that key to resolving perceptions of enduring rivalry is to create, sustain, and normalize perceptions of enduring stability. Such a new narrative—and the actuality of day-to-day relations—would benefit both sides, for whom regional stability are the keystones upon which their development, modernization, and status ambitions rest.
Chris Ogden
University of St Andrews, St Andrews