Numerous books have been published on India–China relations in the last two decades employing different theoretical and conceptual frameworks, with realism being the dominant paradigm. In his book, Panda argues that India–China relations – bilateral, sub-regional, regional, cross continental and global – cannot be explicated by realism (with its focus on conflict), liberalism (with its emphasis on economic interdependence and cooperation) and constructivism (with its emphasis on culture, history, identity and ideas), the three dominant schools of thought in international relations theory. Panda proposes and employs a more holistic conceptual framework in the form of “resources, identity and authority” to explicate the multifaceted relationship.

The author explores this relationship at multiple levels such as bilateral, sub-regional, regional, cross-continental and global. The relations manifest themselves in various ways in what can be termed as the six Cs – convergence, cooperation, collaboration, coexistence, competition and conflict (p. 1). The two countries have similar interests, and convergence can be observed over the reform of the Bretton Woods institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank and also the WTO (chapter 16). They have cooperated and collaborated with respect to the above and climate change under the BASIC framework (chapter 14). Competition and coexistence are manifested in the security realm and in the quest for strategic space and influence in sub-regional, regional and global multilateral institutions such as BCIM and BIMSTEC (chapter seven), SAARC (chapter eight), ASEAN plus 6, TPP and RCEP (chapter 11) and the UN (chapter 16), and garnering resources such as oil and natural gas, minerals and metals in Africa, Russia, the Middle East and Southeast Asia (chapter 15). In addition to cooperation and coexistence, there is also a possibility of conflict between the two neighbours – because of mistrust and historical and structural reasons leading to rivalry – over the disputed land border (chapter three), Tibet and the Dalai Lama (chapter four) and transboundary water resources in the Brahmaputra/Yarlung Tsangpo (chapter five). In such cases, the countries suffer from classic security dilemmas – both deterrence and spiral.

Some broad themes also emerge from the book. India and China's ambitions, goals and objectives are different, and the tools and instruments used to achieve these are also different. For instance, India and China both use the rhetoric and the identity of developing countries to garner support for achieving a multipolar world order and for political influence. However, China relies more on economic power (hard power) and economic diplomacy which India cannot match, and the latter has to rely more on soft power and its historical links to achieve its objectives (chapters 13–16). It must be noted that India is in China's slipstream not only in Africa (chapter 15) but also in Latin America, Central Asia (chapter nine) and Southeast Asia (chapters 11–12) and is playing catch up. In BRICS, the aims and ambitions are different, with India focusing on economic governance, but China has a more political and strategic objective not only with the reforms but also using the forum to enhance its own influence with the member countries, regionally and globally (chapter 13). China has a cogent foreign policy and a long-term strategy to achieve and maximize its national interests at all costs and also has a coherent policy regarding India. However, India lacks a coherent foreign policy not only towards China but in general. This can be explained by the difference in strategic culture, political and economic systems, histories and civilization ethos of the two countries. The present need is for India to have a nuanced foreign policy towards China.

Has Panda been able to develop and employ the new conceptual framework that he proposes? The answer is no. Panda does not delve in depth either in developing the concept or in defining terms such as authority and identity. Additionally, it seems he has not understood the difference between power and authority and has used the two interchangeably (pp. 4, 9). Another issue is the classification of the levels. Sub-regional, regional and cross-continental have not been defined. Thus, it is difficult to comprehend why South Asia and the SAARC (chapter eight) is regional but One Belt One Road (OBOR) (chapter six) is sub-regional. In a similar vein, how is SCO (chapter nine) regional? Both OBOR (chapter six) and SCO are multi-regional, comprising East Asia, Central Asia, South Asia and West Asia. Additionally, OBOR is also cross-continental.

The book also has numerous factual errors and inconsistencies and would have benefitted from editing. For instance, Panda argues that China wants a unipolar Asia and a bipolar world, with China and the US as the two poles (Introduction and also other chapters). But he later states that China wants a multipolar world (chapter 13 and other chapters). Panda argues in chapter 15 that China is more focused on Africa relative to India because of China–Taiwan diplomatic rivalry. He completely ignores or is not aware of the “diplomatic truce” between China and Taiwan proposed by President Ma in 2008 and accepted by President Hu Jintao in 2009, which led to the end of the overt competition between China and Taiwan for international recognition. Panda also argues that India, China and Russia cannot form a credible alliance (p. 207). Thus, he completely ignores or is not aware of the key tenet of Indian foreign policy of strategic autonomy and not forming military alliance with a country (or countries) against another country (or countries). The inconsistencies and errors are because the author has relied heavily on his previous work, most of which is dated. The author accepts this in the preface and also in the notes at the end of the chapter.

It would have been better if Panda had employed “complex interdependence” – coined by Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye – as the conceptual framework to explicate India–China relationship and undertaken more rigorous research and analysis.