Preface India and China share many similarities. They both rejoice in, and relate to, the inheritances of their continuing civilizations. Both are nuclear power states with ever increasing military capabilities. Alongside the benefits of their rising economies they are also grappling with the internal contradictions and upheavals of their billion strong populations. In pursuit of their national aspirations they are both jostling for their rightful places in the world order. If China’s rise remains under close scrutiny in India, that of India does not go unnoticed in China.

Abstract “The India-China relationship is likely to be the most complex, perhaps the most competitive relationship between two of the world's mega-states in the twenty-first century. Their cooperative interactions will be edgy and formal, often brittle – irrespective of public professions to the contrary.

Relations between India and China are poised to affect and influence the global economic and strategic aggregates, which would significantly determine peace, security and stability in Asia in the coming decades. History denotes that interaction between two emerging powers is a contrasting blend of harmony and discord; India and China are no exception. The expanding economic and trade engagement between the two countries on one hand, and concomitant muscle flexing on the other, is a representation of this contrasting dyad.