The Dragon-Tiger Tango

Exploring the differences and similarities between India and China, the Mid-Year Special covers a range of sectors: diplomacy, military power, culture, trade, civil liberties and technology

- SATARUPA BHATTACHARJYA

China aspires to replace the United States in the global order. India, a rising geopolitical and economic power, has drawn closer to the US amid Chinese assertions, especially in South Asia. India seeks to maintain foreign policy autonomy, but strategic concerns have placed it at odds with China.

The neighbours across the Himalayas are the world’s only “population billionaires”. Trade and cultural links go back centuries. Yet, a modern-day reality is the decades-long border dispute that last killed soldiers on both sides in 2020. The differences run deep. China is a one-party autocracy. India is a multiparty democracy.

The BJP and the Communist Party of China (CPC) claim to be the world’s largest political outfits by membership. Both are nationalistic and cadre-based, but their politics vary.

This cover package looks at the complexities of Sino-Indian diplomacy; the two armed forces, from training to technology; the growth of bilateral commerce and the need for a “bold” trade deal with China; the state of civil liberties in China and the lessons for India; the interconnectedness of ancient Sino-Indian history, and the soft power the countries wield in the modern world; and compares the advances they have made in science, technology and innovation.

China and India offer contrasting examples of demographic transition towards longer lives and smaller families, a 2023 UN report said. The average life span in China has increased. But it is an ageing society, a fallout from the past one-child policy. While India is the most populous country, with a youthful population, the workforce will need to grow and train to take on China’s manufacturing prowess in the future, aside from setting up the infrastructure.