The race of two Asian giants: the story of India and China so far
- Last month, a United Nations population survey estimated that a milestone may be passed in 2023.
- For the first time in over two millennia, China will not be most populous country. Instead India will have the largest population, & China second.
Different directions post 1947
| India | China |
|---|---|
| * First major British colony to gain freedom, | * Also marked by violence, but it had a very different result. |
| * Violence of Partition cast a bloody cloud across the landscape. | * Fought Japan from 1937 to 1945 during World War II |
| * Establishment of India as a multi-party electoral democracy with a free media. | * Then plunged into a civil war. |
| * Mao’s rule: saw immense domestic turmoil. |
Lessons to be learned
| From India | From China |
|---|---|
| * India’s political system: India has long had a pluralist system with a variety of voices. | * Emphasis on education: 2.4% of GDP goes on R&D broadly defined, and in international university rankings, which mostly rate hard sciences. |
| * Flexibility and capacity to change: according to circumstances so that no country falls behind in the next stage of global development. | * Emphasis on building human capital: has yielded results as it has become a global exporter. |
Challenges ahead
- On the international stage: both countries need to think where they can find new friends.
- Growing strength of China: a source of alarm for India, but not sure if India wants to accept invitations of U.S. to become a full-blown ally against Beijing,
- Stand on Taiwan: due to Chinese attempt to take Taiwan in the near future.
Conclusion
- It is likely that both countries will continue to do so in wary opposition to each other, and not as part of a wider Asian power bloc of the sort that Nehru might have imagined back in 1947.
- On the international stage, both countries need to think where they can find new friends.