India's strategic choices: Modi, Xi and changing balance of power in Asia

The asymmetry of power and influence between the two Asian giants has rarely been so stark, especially in India's backyard

The leaders of China and India meet in the city of Wuhan this week for an unusual summit. India’s prime minister and China’s president won’t have aides in the room; there will be no written notes and no joint statement afterwards. There will be, we are told, no agenda.

In fact, there is an agenda - a sobering one for anyone counting on India to serve as a “counterweight” to China. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s main goal for the summit is to get China to stop kicking sand in India’s face. The last thing he can afford as his country