Inside Story: Domestic Disharmony for China and India

Before aspiring to global leadership roles, China’s Xi Jinping and India’s Narendra Modi must demonstrate capability for handling domestic challenges. “Xi and Modi may operate in very different contexts, one in charge of the world’s largest Communist Party–controlled state, the other running the world’s largest democracy,” explain Kerry Brown and Marya Shakil for Inside Story. “But both can be called nationalists whose primary appeal to their people is their commitment to making their country modern and powerful.” China and India each anticipate economic growth in excess of 6.5 percent, but citizens of both expect leaders to do more to ease inequality, corruption and other tensions. Internal stability and prosperity for each could determine if the two Asian neighbors, the world’s most populous countries, enjoy good relations. China and India are rivals in many ways. That includes governance, Brown and Shakil conclude, and “whether, in the end, democracy or one-party uniformity emerges as the best way to sustain prosperity and stability.” – YaleGlobal