While attention was focused last week on the summit between North and South Korea, another important encounter was taking place in the southern Chinese city of Wuhan. There, Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an attempt to put their bilateral relationship on solid ground. Good relations between the two countries are critical — they account for 35 percent of the world's population and 25 percent of its economy — and Japan must understand that relationship as it formulates its regional strategy, especially given the growing significance of New Delhi in Tokyo's foreign policy.
Relations between China and India have been fraught. The two countries have long battled for regional primacy, a rivalry that has manifested in three border wars and a 10-week standoff last summer over a contested border. India is unnerved by China's support for Pakistan, its longtime adversary, and the growing Chinese political and naval presence in the Indian Ocean.
Beijing protests India's support for the Dalai Lama, whose government in exile is in northern India. China claims more than 90,000 square kilometers ruled by India in the eastern Himalayas, while India counters that China occupies 38,000 square kilometers of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau in the west. India counted 426 incidents along the two countries' 3,500-kilometer border, a near doubling of the 273 incidents in 2016.