Odd Arne Westad is an award-winning historian and one of the
world’s foremost experts on the Cold War and contemporary East
Asian history. He is a Professor of International History at the
London School of Economics and the co-director of LSE IDEAS, a
centre for the study of international affairs, diplomacy and
grand strategy. His just-released book, Restless Empire, has
already received critical acclaim. He talks to Pranay Sharma on
Sino-Indian relations, what the simultaneous rise of the two
Asian giants means as well as the challenges and opportunities
before the two nations in the coming days. "China viewed India
as being too easy in its intercourse with the West. Beijing
suspected that free India served foreign interests." Your most
recent book, Restless Empire, looks at China’s interaction with
the wider world since 1750. How would you interpret the history
of Sino-Indian relations over the 20th century? China and India
have had an uncertain relationship all through the 20th century
and up to the presen