Gautam Bambawale is a former Indian ambassador to China. Vijay Kelkar was chairman of the 13th Finance Commission and executive director of International Monetary Fund (IMF). R.A. Mashelkar is former director general of Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR). Ganesh Natarajan is executive chairman and founder of 5F World, a platform for skills, start-ups and social ventures. Ajit Ranade is group executive president and chief economist of Aditya Birla Group. Ajay Shah has held positions at Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), Department of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance and National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP).
<p><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Rising to the China Challenge is a stellar contribution to India’s rethinking of how to manage a more dangerous China.</span><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Conflict has resurfaced on the China–India border. The framework that had prevailed from 1988— to proceed with deep engagement while the border issues lay unresolved—has come to an end.</span><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The events of Doklam and Ladakh are not the end of this story. India now faces the prospect of a hostile relationship with China. This is not just a problem of sending troops to Ladakh; this is a problem that will play out on a strategic scale. It is difficult for India to navigate these waters, as China is substantially ahead of India in many aspects.</span><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Thinking about these questions and developing an intellectual framework for Indian strategy is very important in India today, and will have an impact on a broad swathe of Indian policy planning.</span><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">In Rising to the China Challenge Gautam Bambawale, Vijay Kelkar, R.A. Mashelkar, Ganesh Natarajan, Ajit Ranade and Ajay Shah, examine this problem from India’s point of view, and develop the elements of the Indian strategic response. Their in-depth study of China and a compareand-contrast with India in an array of practical areas, ranging from electric vehicles to taxation of corporations, establish the roadmap for the economic, diplomatic and military aspects of the bilateral relationship.</span><br style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: rgb(24, 24, 24); font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">This book represents a holistic picture that integrates these three diverse perspectives. Rising to the China Challenge is a call to action that policy planners wwill find invaluable while engaging in deep consultations and developing a pragmatic way forward.</span><br></p>
