ABSTRACT
The aim of this contribution is to explore the comparative political economy relations between India and China in a critical framework within a focus on strategic foreign policy ties. The paper analyses the intertwined geo-political and geo-economic foreign policy alignments in the global context where similar interests are shared in opposing the US and European Union in climate change policy, world trade and, to a certain extent, security. However, disagreement persists on unresolved problems in terms of attracting FDI, border issues, the near-environment, and contradictions regarding security policies. Coming to the regional Asian setting, the global alignment and foreign policy convergence appears to be partly replaced by a more competitive relation in strategic terms and the two entities act more as rivals for regional dominance than as potential allies. The conclusion offers a discussion of the implications of these contradictory relations on cooperation, conflict and competition between the two countries.
