Sino-Indian relations have registered significant progress in the past five years. Beijing and New Delhi have engaged in a series of summit meetings, frequent high-level visits, joint antiterrorism training exercises between the two militaries, and fast-growing bilateral trade. During Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to China in January 2008, the two countries issued a joint document on a Shared Vision for the 21st Century, pledging to promote a harmonious world of peace and stability and further strengthen the Sino-Indian Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity. These developments have encouraged analysts across the Himalaya to talk about the return of the 1950s Panchsheel and the prospects of "Chindia" in the coming decades.
A closer look at Chinese perspectives on India's rise is therefore warranted, as well as an assessment of both the promises of further cooperation and the potential pitfalls of conflict in the coming years, as the two rising Asian powers continue their upward trajectory toward great-power status. Given their combined human resources and economic potentials, their shared past experiences and newfound paths to development, prosperity, and power, the two countries can make important contributions to regional and global peace. At the same time, unresolved territorial disputes, mutual suspicions of each other's intentions, and other contentious issues could threaten the sustainability and continuing improvement of a critical bilateral relationship. ...
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