The contest of this century will probably be between China and India

In the recent issue of ‘The Economist’; the most discussed topic Contest of the Century, was the cover story.

China has officially become the world’s second-biggest economy, overtaking Japan. In the West this has prompted concerns about China overtaking the United States sooner than previously thought. But stand back a little farther, apply a more Asian perspective, and China’s longer-term contest is with that other recovering economic behemoth: India. These two Asian giants, which until 1800 used to make up half the world economy, are not, like Japan and Germany, mere nation states. In terms of size and population, each is a continent—and for all the glittering growth rates, a poor one.

As the years roll forward, the chances are that it will increasingly come down once again to the two Asian giants facing each other over a disputed border. How China and India manage their own relationship will determine whether similar mistakes to those that scarred the 20th century disfigure this one.

As China and India rise in tandem, their relationship will shape world politics…