Asia's Not Too Friendly Power Play

As modern diplomacy between the ancient civilizations of China and India turns 60 years old in 2010, their evolutionary relationship is raising fundamental questions about the world's geopolitical and economic balance.

Mirroring China's rise since the late 1970s, India has transformed over the past 20 years ago from what seemed a hopeless state into the fastest developing democratic country in the world. Assuming China and India maintain current economic growth rates, the largest economies in the world in 2050 will be China followed by the United States and India. At that point, the global influence of Beijing and New Delhi will rival and possibly surpass that of Washington.