• The chessboard of Sino-Indian relations, fraught with emotion, diplomatic strategy, military stand-offs and global ambitions, will be critical in the 21st century world, influencing markets and international policy. So where do the fault lines lie in this contest between the two Asian giants, poised on either side of the Himalayas?

• India and China, inheritors of two of the world’s most ancient civilisations, have had a long history of strong neighbourly bonds, till the fateful autumn of 1962, when the two countries fought a short and bitter war on the desolate Himalayan heights. Ever since, mutual suspicion, sporadic face-offs and a spirit of competitive nationalism have bedevilled relations between them. Unsettled borders possess the ability to trigger further conflict.

• In a cogent and comprehensive analysis, the author traces the origins of the discord to the flawed legacy of imperial Britain’s unilateral border delineation and the ebb and flow of Chinese activism in Tibet. The gripping narrative carries the reader from post-1947 Panchsheel bonhomie to years of mutual distrust, aggravated by Chinese paranoia over Tibet, and India’s cataclysmic defeat in the 1962 war.

• In this revised and updated edition, the author chronicles the events after the 1962 war, the changes subsequent to China’s evolution into an economic and military superpower, the impact of China’s special relationship with Pakistan, their apprehensions about the Dalai Lama, the role of USA, and the recurring incidents at the Indo-China border, including Doklam.

• The challenges faced by Indian military and diplomatic establishment in tackling the threat from across the Himalayas are lucidly analysed.

• A book for the thinking Indian