India-China relations stand at a crossroads after the border crisis in 2020. Where do relations go from here, and how should India engage with China going forward even as it confronts a widening power gap with its neighbour? A new paper by a group of six authors including a former Ambassador to China, economists and scientists outline what the authors believe to be the optimal short-term and long-term strategies for India to engage with China politically, economically and military. In this episode, we are joined by two of its authors, who make a case for why realism, and not emotion-driven sentiment, should guide India's approach to China and its efforts to close the widening gap, even as they paint a sobering picture of the power differential between the neighbours.
Also read: Excerpts from the interview
Guests: Gautam Bambawale, former diplomat who served as Indian Ambassador to China, Pakistan and Bhutan; Ajay Shah, Research Professor of Business, Jindal Global University.
Host: Ananth Krishnan, China correspondent, The Hindu