India and China: Conflict and cooperation

China and India are rising powers, keenly observed by the West and, increasingly, the rest of the world. Yet surprisingly for two states of such growing importance and with a rich and sometimes fractious history, their relationship seems to an outside eye largely reactive and, more broadly, adrift. China and India should be able to manage their parallel rise without generating shocks in their own continent. However, this will require careful management of bilateral irritants and potential regional crises. A more systematic dialogue process, going well beyond high-level visits, that acknowledges their differences instead of emphasising imagined similarities could lay the foundations for a better understanding of the domestic compulsions that drive each nation's foreign policy.