Chindia. We’ve all heard it, seen it and sometimes we let it slip out subconsciously - after all, China and India talk is about the town and these two countries remain some of the hottest spots in cross-regional media coverage.  The term Chindia may seem acceptable to most of us but if we actually think about its context for a split-second, we should be able arrive at agreement that it doesn’t seem to make much sense at all to clump two mutually exclusive countries together referring to them as one.  In terms of their modern economies, societies and polities the two don’t have much in common but commentators continue to resort to Chindia when comparing and contrasting the two countries.  Can China and India even be compared?  Surely its fair to talk about them simultaneously - each in its own right is undergoing phenomenal growth and change and the Sino-Indian relationship is certainly fascinating but to make assertions that they drum to the same beat is absurd.  They are simply different creatures and are more than likely to remain that way.  

Check out what others have to say:

One of the most critical Chindia commentaries that I’ve found so far is a piece by Arthur Kroeber, China and India: myths exploded in the Q1, 2006 China Economic Quarterly issue and can be accessed at http://www.wys35.com/article/ceq2006q1.pdf. 

…and a few more notable Chindia articles worth reading: 

China, India like chalk and cheese and twain may never meet by Guy de Jonquieres (The Australian, Dec. 2006)http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20864038-36375,00.html.

The Myth of Chindia (Economist, Nov. 2006) http://www.economist.com/daily/columns/asiaview/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8311987.

India, China or Chindia - which is Asia’s real sleeping giant? (The Age, January 2006) http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/india-china-or-chindia-8212-which-is-asias-real-sleepinggiant/2006/01/30/1138590441014.html.

…and a quirky little fact, Chindia is said to be an actual place, the name of a still-standing 15th century tower in Romania known as the ‘torture-fort’ where the then royal tyrant physically took part in and watched the torture and death process of his victims.
 

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