There’s a lot of baggage in the India China relationship, says Prof Bali Deepak of Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. In a chat on Books Corner about his latest work India & China: Beyond the binary of friendship and enmity, he argues that the 1962 war is only one element of this baggage. The current economic and technological asymmetry that China enjoys has bred among Chinese, a smug superiority. But they find that India does not kowtow to this asymmetry, rather it harks back to history to show how India gave far more to China.
Current baggage has added to the trust deficit. China’s Belt & Road Initiative and its backing for Pakistan are being countered by India’s partnership with the Quad, closer ties with the US and middle powers like Japan, France and the UK.
Prof. Deepak avoids making any predictions about the future roadmap of India China relations, but makes the case for a pragmatic approach, where both sides can look beyond their differences to tap into each other’s advantages: China’s money and India’s market!
