For the last six decades, India has viewed China with suspicion and through the prism of a war. Two chronological points highlight this – 1959, when China annexed Tibet and India offered shelter to the Dalai Lama, and 1962, when India lost a short war with China over a disputed northern border, and China aligned with Pakistan, India’s principal security threat. Over the past decade, both countries have chosen to separate the issues of contention from areas of cooperation. Today China is India’s largest trading partner, with over $65 billion in trade in 2013, up from $2 billion in 2000. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang made India his first overseas visit in March 2013, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Beijing in October that year, and signed a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement. The year 2014 is jointly observed as the “Year of Friendly Exchanges.”
The China discourse in India
Indian Strategic Studies, a news and analysis website, republished an article by Gateway House's Shai Venkatraman and Dev Lewis on how the Indian news media has a role in playing up stereotypes instead of building bridges in the India-China relations.