The conflict between China and India is fundamental. Both are populous nations, and with limited resources, they must always fight for food.

The conflict between China and India is not accidental, but rather a deep-rooted structural issue.

As two countries with populations exceeding one billion, the competition for resources, development models, and international status has kept the relationship between the two countries filled with rivalry and conflict.

Especially in the current international landscape, although globalization has prompted cooperation between the two in certain areas, fundamental issues make it difficult to reconcile their differences.

Both China and India are ancient civilizations with a long history.

In the past, both countries developed independently on the Asian continent, each with their own cultural traditions and political systems.

Although there were cultural exchanges between the two countries, the arrival of Western colonial powers since the modern era changed this situation.

During British colonial rule in India, the British deliberately drew some ambiguous borders between China and India, the most famous being the “McMahon Line.”

This border line was drawn without China’s consent and has been controversial, directly laying the groundwork for later border conflicts.

In the 1960s, China and India experienced a severe border conflict, the 1962 “Sino-Indian Border Self-Defense Counterattack War,” which was a concentrated eruption of historical problems.

This war was not a sudden event but the result of accumulated historical factors and border issues.

At that time, both sides had already made their respective bottom lines clear, and this conflict could not be easily resolved by diplomatic rhetoric.

Today, China and India are still the two most populous countries in the world, directly leading to fierce competition for resources.

Whether it is land, water resources, or energy, the demand for these resources is rigid, and as the population continues to grow, the sense of resource scarcity becomes more pronounced.

China has solved its relative food production problems through hybrid rice technology, precision agriculture, and the construction of high-standard farmland, ensuring that its “rice bowl” no longer depends on external sources.

However, India’s agricultural technology and infrastructure are relatively lagging behind.

Although India has more cultivated land than China, it still faces significant pressure on food imports.

The competition between the two countries is even sharper regarding water resources.

The Yarlung Tsangpo River is China’s “mother river,” while in India, it is known as the Brahmaputra River.

India has long expressed concerns over potential water projects that China might build upstream, fearing that these projects could affect India’s water supply.

This issue is not just about the quantity of water; it involves the fundamental competition for natural resources between the two countries.

India is afraid that China might control the upstream water sources, creating a “strangulation” effect on water resources.

This concern over water resources is a crucial trigger for the tensions between the two nations.

Behind this resource competition lies a deeper contradiction stemming from the collision of the two countries’ development paths.

Over the past three decades, China has embarked on an economic boom through the rise of its manufacturing industry.

China started from low-end manufacturing and gradually developed into high-end manufacturing, becoming an important base for global manufacturing, often called the “world’s factory.”

China leads globally in sectors such as home appliances, electronics, and infrastructure, while India also hopes to follow the same path.

In recent years, India has proposed the “Make in India” strategy, aiming to develop its manufacturing sector, attract foreign investment, create jobs, and achieve economic rise.

However, the global manufacturing market has limited capacity, and competition for international orders is fierce.

China has already established a solid position in several industries, and as India hopes to enter these sectors, it inevitably competes directly with China.

Whether it is in home appliances, electronics, or infrastructure, India must compete with China for market share.

To this end, India has introduced a series of policies to enhance the competitiveness of its manufacturing industry.

However, India’s “Make in India” plan is not easy to implement, as it faces challenges such as technology, labor force, and infrastructure bottlenecks, as well as the problem of how to compete with China in the global market.

The challenges India faces are problems that China has already overcome, so India’s rapid rise will undoubtedly pose a threat to China’s position in the global supply chain.

The competition between the two countries in manufacturing is not only about economic interests but also about future influence in the global economic system.

In the context of globalization, many people believe that China and India could achieve a win-win situation through cooperation.

However, reality is much more complex than the ideal.

India has always harbored a “great power dream,” desiring more political and economic influence in Asia and globally.

China, as the largest economy in Asia, poses a threat to India’s aspirations.

Although India has made some achievements in fields such as information technology and software services, China’s influence in the global economy is expanding, especially in areas such as the Belt and Road Initiative, international trade, and political diplomacy, which further reduces India’s relative global standing.

On the one hand, India wants to gain a share of China’s rise by importing China’s affordable and high-quality goods and attracting Chinese investment.

On the other hand, India fears that China’s growing strength might impact its leadership position in Asia.

Therefore, India often takes an adversarial stance in some international matters, particularly in border and trade issues, occasionally provoking incidents to gain more international attention and status.

Not only is the conflict between China and India intensifying internally, but external forces are also exacerbating the confrontation.

Western countries, especially the United States, have always been wary of seeing China and India cooperate, and they have supported India through the “Indo-Pacific Strategy” to counterbalance China’s development.

The United States provides military support to India, helping strengthen its defense capabilities, which undoubtedly complicates Sino-Indian relations.

With support from Western countries, India sometimes adopts a tougher stance in its dealings with China, even challenging China’s bottom line through diplomatic means.

This external intervention has not alleviated the contradictions between China and India but rather made the situation more complicated and difficult to resolve.

In conclusion, the China-India conflict is not just a simple clash between two great powers, but a result of the intertwining of historical issues, resource competition, divergent development paths, and external interference.

The competition between the two countries in economic, political, and military fields makes it difficult to resolve these contradictions in the short term.

While globalization provides space for cooperation in certain areas, the fundamental conflicts of interest and geopolitical competition ensure that the relationship between the two countries will be difficult to harmonize.

Therefore, any belief that the China-India conflict can be easily resolved or that India will abandon competition with China is unrealistic.

The competition between the two countries will persist in the long term, and how to maintain stability and avoid conflict in this competition remains an important issue for the international community to focus on.