It is a commonplace to observe that the emergence of China as a great power is the most significant geopolitical phenomenon of the current decade. However, the implications of the ‘rise’ of China—a useful, if misleading shorthand for a complex historical development—are far from evident and have attracted a full-throated debate. For India, in particular, China’s rise is likely to have important and far-reaching ramifications. Five decades after the 1962 war, the prospect of having a great power in our immediate neighbourhood continues to unnerve most Indian observers.