Review by Choice Review
With over a billion people each, China and India are the world's two most populous countries. They are also nuclear powers with a common border in an extremely volatile region. Yet ties and tensions between Beijing and New Delhi are generally underappreciated in discussions of the critical bilateral relationships in post-Cold War global affairs. As the foreword points out, the authors of this book "are part of a younger generation of scholars who combine Asian cultural and linguistic backgrounds with rigorous academic training in Europe and North America." One of the volume's strengths is the extent to which it draws on government and academic sources (including interviews) from both China and India. Following a substantive overview of the history of Sino-Indian interactions, the book analyzes contemporary Beijing-Delhi relations in chapters that focus on mutual threat perceptions; the role of the US; efforts at cooperative security arrangements and so-called "Confidence-Building Measures"; and domestic factors, particularly the relevant foreign policy decision makers in each country. The concluding chapter assesses future prospects for Sino-Indian relations and policy options that would encourage cooperation rather than conflict between these two Asian powers. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. W. A. Joseph Wellesley College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
