India's ambassador to Beijing, Shivshankar Menon, begs to differ. The diplomat's diplomat - third generation, no less - Mr Menon thinks the future is so bright that - well, rose-coloured glasses come to mind, but that wouldn't be diplomatic, would it?

To a crowded room of the cream of India's business community in Hong Kong on Monday, he charmed and won applause for sharing his view that China and India were powering ahead economically and that nothing but mutual good fortune would result.

It is a much talked-about partnership. With a combined market of a third of the world's population, this is big business of the highest order.

The difficulty is that while the sums are adding up, the rest of the equation isn't. India's economy is growing at just less than 6 per cent a year, but China's is booming ahead with 8 per cent. Foreign direct investment to China is estimated at US$50 billion (HK$390 billion), at least 10 times more than for India.

Analyst Swaran Singh, an associate professor in international studies at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University, does not deny that economic relations between Asia's giants are good. What he doesn't like is that other aspects of the relationship are going nowhere.

Bear in mind the two went to war in 1962 and still skirmish at a low level over their disputed border. Sympathies for Tibet - the Dalai Lama makes India his home, as do tens of thousands of his followers - doesn't help. Then there is China's military backing of India's arch-rival Pakistan, to the point of helping it produce nuclear weapons.

Amid the economic bilateralism, such issues are rarely mentioned in India. They should be, said Dr Singh.

'Security dialogue is dead, the boundary issue is dead, the joint working group is not functional,' he lamented on Tuesday. 'Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's long-discussed visit is taking place later this year, which means it's not happening soon. The defence minister's visit has been repeatedly delayed. In terms other than economics - which is basically trade, not even investment - little is happening. Trade has picked up, which is good, but that's all there is.'

Dr Singh spent seven months at Peking University as a visiting professor last year. He has monitored India's relations with China for years. He predicted India's trade links with Taiwan being problematic to China in the future.

Beijing-based India-watcher Ma Jiali saw the relationship as mutually beneficial. China's and India's economies had many complementary aspects. There was a problem, though, in that China was developing at a much faster rate.

'The difficulty facing India is greater,' the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations professor warned.

China attached great importance to India with regard to economics and politics. Beijing wanted to promote the economic aspects of the relationship, while putting forward understanding on political issues.

'I hope China and India can be good economic partners and good neighbours,' Professor Ma said.

He is not the only one. Indian business communities around the world are consulting their lucky stars as well.

Peter Kammerer is the Post's Foreign Editor