ABSTRACT
Reforming global institutions, particularly those of the Bretton Woods vintage, has been a persisting quest for India and China. Currently, they are pursuing this interest both bilaterally and at the regional level by establishing alternative institutions. This chapter deliberates whether the two countries are interdependent or independent in their approach to this matter. Both India and China have supported in principle the current world order and have participated in the ‘rules-based, liberal, post-World War II global economic and political order’ (Gilboy and Heginbotham 2012: 128). At the same time, both hold the outlook that the current world order – mainly the international trade and financial system – is dominated by the US and the developed nations (ibid.). A reference to this effect is their joint resolution to demand reform of the Bretton Woods institutions. Table 16.1 presents details of the two countries’ membership in various international organisations.
