Shrug and awe between Asia's two giants

Leaders in Beijing and New Delhi may be putting historical enmity aside, but the warming political relations aren't necessarily translating into closer links between the people of the world's two most populous nations.

In India, the talk is of whether China is emerging as a threat and whether India's economy can compare to the runaway success of its northern neighbour. In China, however, few are sitting up and paying attention to happenings south of the Himalayas.

The growing interest in China among ordinary Indians has prompted leading Indian newspapers such as The Hindu to appoint correspondents in Beijing and run commentaries reflecting their views of a country that leaves many Indians perplexed.

On the economic front, China is viewed with admiration by the Indian media. But in terms of security, China is often painted as the transgressor in frequent rows over the disputed Himalayan border, most recently a three-week stand-off in April, when Chinese and Indian troops stood just 100 metres apart in the Karakoram Range on the western sector of the China-India border. The two fought a brief border war in 1962.

The concern is deepened by China's relationship with India's strategic rival Pakistan; Beijing is a key investor and trading partner of Islamabad, one of the oldest and most loyal allies of the People's Republic.

"India has quite a lot of interest in covering China," says Manoj Joshi, a veteran Indian journalist who is now a distinguished fellow at the New Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation think tank. "The past history and the entire Sino-Indian border generate a great degree of interest because there have been a lot of activities on that border, and that is something which worries the Indian side."