There is a vast literature on comparing Chinese power projections with those of India, as well as the more and more complicated scenarios of and realities on Asian politics, translated into global politics. Martin Jacques in " When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order" (Jacques, 2009) offers an analysis on Chinese influence in the region and the world in which its self-confidence, steaming from its economic power, allows it to project hegemony of political and cultural proportions over large regions of the world. In the same time, Raghav Bahl sees the two powers in a tighter competition (Bahl, 2010). India's competitive advantage and socio-political and cultural differentiate it from China in making it more prone for success. He argues that China experiences a strong deflation and a huge debt as a result of the crisis, while India has come back rapidly. What strongly differentiate the two countries in their struggle for world power, and what seems to make India more successful is its democratic regime. Yet, this could be the drawback as it is as any other large democracy, instable and could become inconsistent. Bill Emmott, in his recent comparison of China, India...

Also, India can only grow if it manages efficiently its public policies.
After a brief analysis on the literature on the topic it appears that there is no clear answer whether the difference in development of world influence between India and China. Besides external actors and events like the U.S., India, North Korean and Iranian issues, the internal factors will shape the way in which the two countries will evolve in the next decades.

Bibliography

Bahl, Raghav. Superpower?: The Amazing Race Between China's Hare and India's Tortoise. Portfolio, 2010

Bill Emmott. Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India, and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade. Mariner Book, 2009

Jacques, Martin. When China Rules the World: The End of the Western World and the Birth of a New Global Order. Penguin Press HC, 2009

International Monetary Fund. World Economic Outlook. October 2010. IMF, 2010

The Economist. Contest of the century. Online edition 19th…