INDIA CHINA Connect

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated India’s first nature-themed airport terminal in Guwahati, built at a cost of ₹4,000 crore. The new Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport terminal can handle over 13 million passengers annually, making it the largest in Northeast India and a key hub boosting connectivity, tourism, trade, and regional development.

India’s travel habits are shifting from annual holidays to frequent, short trips, driven by better connectivity, rewards, and wider participation from women and Tier-2/Tier-3 cities. Scapia’s 2025 data shows sharp growth in flights, stays, and global spending. Travellers now prioritise experiences, flexible itineraries, and repeatable 48–72 hour getaways over long, infrequent vacations.

India’s retail sector is thriving as Western malls decline. While the US has seen widespread store closures since 2020, India is witnessing strong consumer demand, near-full mall occupancy, and rising rents. Limited organised retail space, low e-commerce penetration, and growing global brand interest are driving investments, with malls evolving into lifestyle hubs.

China leads the global race in humanoid robotics, filing about five times more related patents than the United States over the past five years, according to Morgan Stanley. The report also highlights China’s major cost advantages, noting that excluding China from supply chains could nearly triple production costs for robots like Tesla’s Optimus Gen 2.

As 2025 ends, Isro marks a year of steady progress through routine launches, advancing research and stronger commercial ties via NSIL. Building on decades of frugal, high‑impact robotic missions, focus now shifts to Gaganyaan. Uncrewed tests, safety systems, Vyommitra flights and re‑entry trials in 2026 aim to place India among elite human spaceflight nations.

NITI Aayog has proposed a roadmap to internationalise India’s higher education by allowing foreign universities to operate within Indian campuses, easing visa and regulatory norms, and boosting academic mobility. The plan addresses rising outbound student numbers, seeks to attract learners, funds research through a $10 billion Bharat Vidya Kosh, and introduces scholarships to position India as an education hub globally.

China surged ahead of India by reforming earlier, backing manufacturing, new private entrants, local governments, and R&D investment. Manufacturing scale drove incomes higher. India liberalised later, favoured incumbents, centralised policy, and underinvested in innovation, tilting growth to services. The lessons: empower states and cities, support startups, expand manufacturing, boost R&D and education, and cut red tape—without copying China’s authoritarian model.

SITA is in talks with Indian airlines and airports to introduce AI‑based baggage biometrics that identify bags without relying on tags.

India has approved ₹11,718 crore for the fully digital 2027 Census, conducted in two phases from 2026–27 with 3 million workers.

Beijing’s international travel is rebounding strongly, surpassing 20 million passenger trips this year. Foreign arrivals are up sharply, boosted by expanded visa‑free access covering dozens of countries.

Chinese manufacturers are expanding overseas to counter weak domestic demand, rising competition, and shifting supply chains.

India’s workforce is set to expand by 144 million by 2050, while China’s will shrink by 239 million due to aging and low fertility.

Abhay Kumar Singh, a Patna-born doctor-turned-politician, is Russia’s first Indian-origin legislator, elected twice in Kursk.

China is testing autonomous mining trucks at the 5,600‑metre‑high Huoshaoyun lead‑zinc site in Xinjiang, creating the world’s highest unmanned mine.

The Catholic Church is India’s second‑largest non‑government landowner, managing property valued around Rs 20,000 crore and thousands of schools, colleges, and hospitals nationwide. Its vast holdings stem from colonial‑era land grants under the 1927 Indian Churches Act.

China’s new Rizhao facility converts seawater and industrial waste heat into low‑cost fresh water, green hydrogen, and mineral brine.

India sees opportunity in a projected global shortage of 700,000 semiconductor workers by 2030. As investments boost its chip ambitions, the country must quickly upgrade technical education and manufacturing training.

Adani Group plans a $15 billion, five‑year expansion to lift its airport capacity to 200 million passengers annually, centered on the new Navi Mumbai airport and upgrades across six major hubs.

India is attracting massive global investment in AI‑ready data centres as it produces 20% of the world’s data but has limited capacity.

China is rapidly electrifying its heavy‑truck fleet, driving a major drop in diesel demand and reshaping global energy forecasts.