'China is India's rival': Manmohan Singh's last essay
In his last essay, published after his passing in September 2025, former PM Manmohan Singh cautioned that things aren't likely to improve between India and China anytime soon.
He urged India to stand firm against what he called China's "arrogance of power."
The essay is being published posthumously in September 2025 as part of a book edited by Salman Khurshid and Salil Shetty.
Singh noted that India-China ties have worsened since 2020
Singh looked back at the 2013 summit when both countries agreed not to see each other as threats—a spirit that broke down after the violent Ladakh clashes in 2020.
He described China as both an economic and ideological rival, pointing out its "authoritarian state capitalism" compared to India's more open, democratic approach.
Singh urged India to join RCEP
Even with all this friction, Singh believed South Asia should stick together economically.
He encouraged deeper regional trade through groups like SAARC and RCEP, warning that India's 2019 exit from RCEP could leave it out of Asia's booming growth story.
For him, economic partnerships were about more than just exports and imports—they're about staying connected in a fast-changing world.