India versus China: Why They Are Not Friends? In his book, author Kanti Bajpai writes how perception, perimeter, partnership, and power have defined the relationship, which has been fractious for the most part in the last century. Among the several facets of conflicts, competition and cooperation that typically frame relations between countries, the one involving India and China has been defined more by conflicts and in some parts, by competition.The Cold War years, post-World War II, saw India and China land up on opposite sides of the ideological and power divide. The consequent unipolar world, after the collapse of the Soviet bloc, witnessed the two neighbours compete as emerging economies, though technically, the Chinese economy has galloped to $18.53 trillion, and is five times bigger than the size of India’s GDP at current prices at $3.93 trillion. Despite the difference in size, it is to India’s credit that China sees it as competition in the region, thereby underpinning the genesis of the conflict in recent times.
In the past decade, Xi Jinping’s belligerent stance ever since his ascension to power, has resulted in severely deteriorated relations between the two neighbours, culminating in the clash of Galwan in 2020 and reigniting conflict and confrontation as the currencies of relationship between the two neighbours.
Four Years Ago: Recent Scars
To recap the events four years ago, Indian and Chinese troops clashed in the Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020. This skirmish was the first one between the two, since 1975, and resulted in casualties on both sides and more importantly, drove a permanent wedge of enmity and mistrust. Both sides suffered casualties: 20 Indian soldiers died in the clash and there were inconsistent reports about the number of Chinese casualties. Following the clash, the two sides beefed up their presence along the LAC leading to a series of talks on de-escalation that could not prevent tussles and tensions in trade, business and politics.
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