India?s Chinese puzzle

An analysis of China and India, the two neighbouring and rivalling Asian giants to whom the 21st century will belong.

The India-China Relationship
Edited by Francine R. Frankel, Harry Harding
Oxford University Press
2004
Pages: 377
Price: Rs 595

The Chinese have a joke about Indians: What does an Indian say when asked for his age? “Dirty” (that’s how Indians presumably pronounce 30). Now, how about his wife’s age? “Dirty too” (no prizes for guessing what that is).

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Jokes, of course, are not a serious indicator of anything. In this instance, one did have to stop and think: “Wait a minute, is that what they think of us?” They don’t, rest assured.

The India-China relationship: Rivalry and engagement explores this most intriguing of relationships in Asia, albeit from an American perspective. Clearly, it’s meant for Americans.

Though not exactly a dummy’s guide, the books does take the reader through the intricacies of a long and chequered relationship between the Asian giants which are now competing rivals.

Ashley Tellis writes: “… Beijing has paid New Delhi more geostrategic attention than it has been willing to publicly admit … Accordingly, the purported Chinese ‘neglect’ of India must be judged a myth.”

Now jump back to the Chapter ‘One-sided rivalry: China’s perceptions and policies toward India’. Susan L Shirk writes: “India has many more experts on China than China has experts on India. Indian journalists, intellectuals, businesspeople, and the informed public are avid China-watchers, while their Chinese counterparts follow developments in Taiwan, Japan and the United States with much greater interest than developments in India.”

So who is right — Tellis or Shirk? Hard to tell? Maybe Tellis is closer to the truth here. Having settled most other boundary disputes, China wants the one with India out of the way too.

There are suspicions and doubts on either side, but there is a growing body of people here and in China which wants the disputes settled so the two countries could get on with what is needed most — development.

Forget the lip service to paid to peace and development on either side, there are people who are quietly at work engaging the two countries in a bigger game — business and money.

Gansu, which is generally considered the Bihar of China, for instance is looking for investments. And one of its vice-governors recently pitched for Indian investment.

This collection of articles by experts on India and China addresses America, its concerns and what it could do in this region. The subtext, however, is clearly this: the future lives here, in these two countries.