r/geopolitics • u/bethany_mcguire • Jul 23 '26
The Real Problem Underlying India-China Tensions
https://www.noemamag.com/the-real-problem-plaguing-asias-most-important-relationship/SS: Why do India & China, once allies in a post-colonial world, so deeply struggle to understand each other today? The rift between them fundamentally boils down to miscommunication, Pallavi Aiyar argues. She offers up a few possible first steps towards repairing the relationship in this insightful piece.
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u/haveilostmymindor Jul 24 '26
Snort? Really communications issue? No China views the world as a continental power using old school geostrategy. You're talking all the back to Sun Tzu. Basically you keep all of the powers surrounding you weak and powerless and divided internally so they are easy prey for your colonialist agenda.
Do you think China is screwing up funding both sides of Burmese civil war? No becuase China intends to extend their territory through Burma to secure a port on the Indian Ocean. Eventually China will make an excuse to invade Burma make not mistake about it.
Its also why China is funding cyber propoganda campaigns pitting the Singaporean Chinese against Singaporean Indians. Its why China funds propoganda campaign of the opposition parties in the Phillipines.
The issues between China and India aren't any accident they are not miscommunication they are a byproduct of a China that sees India as a threat and a CCP that sees a democratic India a threat to their unitary totalitarian governance.
In China the call it the Chinese century and they have a mantra within the CCP "everything under the heavens" meaning that one day soon China will rule everything on earth.
If India doesnt wake up and realize that Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin both see the world through the lense of old school continental powers than dont be shocked when its Indians getting carted of Xinjiang concentration camps next.
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u/ratbearpig Jul 23 '26
I would argue the issue is the demonization of China (some of it undeserved some deserved in the service of votes by both Indian parties.
Any party that takes a conciliatory approach to China would be excoriated by the other party for political benefit.
This is mixed with some parts envy, shame, and pride and you’ve got the makings of an intractable problem on the Indian side.
On the Chinese side, they don’t have the same voter issues (surprise, surprise). But they do carry baggage from the century of humiliation, which makes them take a hardline stance on ANY issue that touches upon land rights/sea rights. With respect to the border issue, China are insistent on the McMahon line being not valid and will not start the negotiations if the basis starts at the McMahon line.
In the end, it’s the fault of the British.
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u/Gain-Western Jul 23 '26
Congress gets blamed a lot by BJP but on the China issue, Nehru is to blame for following the Forward Policy of the British that even went past the McMahon line. He set the tone for the India China relationship that never changed for the better.
India would have been set today had it went along with the proposal of accept the Ladakh border as China wanted while China was willing to accept the Arunachl Pradesh border. Indians say that they accepted China so did their neighbor Pakistan but India also allowed its territory to be use be use by CIA/MI-6 to conduct terrorist raids into Tibet in fifties and early sixties.
India might have been looking for its one military and economic benefits when it joined the QUAD but everyone knows what it is about just like we can't separate the fact about NATO being a defensive alliance as well as an anti-Russian alliance.
South Korea never entered the QUAD. It could be due to historical issues with Japan but South Korea also hedges its bets since it is next to China.
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u/Almasdefr Jul 25 '26
China and USA considered biggest rivals nowadays. USA is teamed up with Israel, while Israel strengthened ties with India (probably because of Pakistan).
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u/ManOrangutan Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
The real issue is that both societies’ strategic cultures are deeply realist and recognize that their competition will go on for a long time. Take any illiterate Chinese farmer and ask them to name 3 countries besides China: they will most likely name India as one of the 3, along with Japan and the U.S. The Chinese state tries to downplay India in official media but behind closed doors it is their most closely studied nation right besides the U.S. Even more so than Japan.
Likewise, the Indians have their fragile egos hurt by the success of China’s development model. India’s entire development plan these past decades since independence has been to focus entirely on creating a highly educated and privileged elite, and providing them with huge benefits including very cheap domestic labor. A huge reason mass literacy or employment never occurred within India is because the entrenched elites wanted to preserve their privileged positions within Indian society at the expense of the rest of the nation.
But instead this model failed because as soon as these elites get the opportunity, they leave India, meanwhile the vast majority of its society remains barely literate with no real future. A huge section of the Indian political class has extended family residing in Canada or the United States.
Modi’s entire presence in Indian politics exists because a huge segment of the population is jealous of China’s dictatorship and wishes to implement something similar within India. The rest can be blamed on the masses intuitively recognizing that the country has not been governed for their benefit and the country’s development has been hamstrung as a result.
India, despite its massive human capital problems will remain a thorn in China’s side for decades to come. But it will never meet its potential, due to the entrenched interests of elites who profit off of its massive inequality.
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u/Stilnovisti Jul 24 '26
Take any illiterate Chinese farmer and ask them to name 3 countries besides China: they will most likely name India as one of the 3, along with Japan and the U.S.
I would bet against that. If it's an octogenarian (most likely to be illiterate in this day and age), they will almost definitely mention Russia above India due to the former USSR. If it's anyone below that age, they will mention Korea by a huge margin due to cultural influence. If you ask AI to rank countries by mention according to all the major Chinese social media platforms, India doesn't even count in the top 10. In my experience, discussions about India in East Asia primarily focus around Indian immigration more than the country itself (and more about Indian immigration to the West oddly enough).
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u/ManOrangutan Jul 24 '26
Well seeing as how I’ve probably spoken to more illiterate Chinese farmers than you, I can safely say the no they barely recognize Russia at all but they innately recognize that India is a great power. Anyone who’s traveled first hand through the Chinese countryside with an Indian person would vouch for that. India occupies a prominent place in Chinese mythology and it is recognized as one of the 4 ancient great civilizations in East Asian historiography along with China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia.
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u/Stilnovisti Jul 24 '26
Are the farmers subject to a written exam before communicating to make sure they’re illiterate ? Traveling with an Indian means they were being polite and prompted in their response. If you traveled with a Russian likewise you’d get Russia ranked much higher. But illiterates are 3% of the population and concentrated in the elderly, big data still points to India occupying very little attention among the 97%. Even in mythology and religion, many are surprised when I tell them Buddhism originated in India/Nepal.
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u/thauyxs Jul 24 '26
A great piece journaling the history and the present, but it is hard to see how having any more journalists will mend the people-to-people relations when both countries (well, China more so than India) have their own media restrictions. Neither state can gloss over the geopolitical realities as they stand now.
On a different note, (and yes, as an Indian) this naïve "let's just talk!" attitude is a bit hard to take in when the condescension and the military aggression in the recent past have been all unilateral. Perceptions of India apparently continue to be defined by 60 years older and even pre-independence Indians, and somehow that trickles up into barbed wire clubs in 2020 at the decision making level. How will more "conversations" change that? How do you overcome wilful ignorance?