US and India should build strong strategic ties to balance China

The main characteristic of international politics today is competition between the two major powers in the world — the US on the one hand and China on the other.

- Gautam Bambawale

Over the past four decades, China has risen quickly and today is a $19 trillion economy, closing in fast on the US which has a GDP of $30 trillion. What is significant is that along with rapid economic growth, China has also made great strides in technology, in the quality of its educational institutions, in levels of public health, in the speed with which it builds quality infrastructure and in manufacturing complex products. Today, China is a leader in many areas of human endeavour including artificial intelligence, robotics, electric vehicles, renewable energy and of course manufacturing. Scholars have marvelled at the quantity of research output of Chinese universities and think tanks as well as how quickly firms in that country adapt such advances to the market place.

China challenges the US in fields such as space exploration, nuclear energy, defence technology and products. It is already the number one trading nation in the world as well as the largest manufacturing country. What is important to note here is that rapid economic progress leads not merely to improvements in the quantity and quality of goods and services but also inevitably to forward movement in all areas of a nation’s well being. Growth is a tide which lifts all boats.