China and India have had a tense relationship, disagreeing over territory, support for each other’s rivals, and even, at times, leadership of the “Global South.” But there were periods where things seemed a bit rosier. For about a decade, between 1988 and 1998, relations between India and China thawed—and prompted heady predictions of an Asian century.

Vappala Balachandran, who was part of those off-line discussions with China, writes about the ups and downs of China-India relations in his latest book India and China at Odds in the Asian Century: A Diplomatic and Strategic History (Hurst: 2025)

Vappala Balachandran is a columnist, former special secretary for the Indian Cabinet Secretariat, and author of four books on Indian security, strategy and intelligence.

You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of India and China at Odds in the Asian Century. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia.

Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon.

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Vappala Balachandran, "India and China at Odds in the Asian Century: A Diplomatic and Strategic History" (Hurst, 2025)