From a global perspective, China's geographical location is really inferior to India's, and India is more likely to develop into a world power than China.
Alfred Thayer Mahan, a well-known American strategist, pointed out in his book "On Sea Power" that the future is the sea power of maritime countries, and in order to develop sea power, it is necessary to have a strong navy to control the sea and seize sea supremacy, and the necessary condition is to have a navy, sea bases, and shipping routes, and not be controlled by other countries, and the most ideal location is an island close to the central location, close to the main trade routes, and can freely enter and exit the ocean.
According to this concept, we can understand why Britain and the United States have become world hegemons one after another. The British Isles are isolated from the sea, separated from the European continent by the English Channel, and can be used to block invasion from the European continent by natural hazards. At the same time, the British Isles are directly connected to the Atlantic Ocean, and have direct access to the Atlantic Ocean to the west, without any straits and land blocks. Britain established maritime hegemony after defeating the Netherlands and Spain, and then hid in the British Isles to engage in a "continental balance of power", and it was not until the rise of the United States and Germany after the Second Industrial Revolution that Britain lost its world hegemony.
However, the United States, which seized world hegemony from Britain, is geographically superior to Britain. The United States is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the east and the Pacific Ocean in the west, and can enter the ocean from any direction, although it is located in the hinterland of the continent, but Latin America in the south and Canada in the north are not threatened, and no country can deter the mainland, so it can rest assured that it can focus on naval construction, coupled with the vast territory of the United States, rich in resources, and the comprehensive transplantation of the British political system and economic system, so it can replace Britain as the hegemon in just a hundred years.
In contrast, the geography of Germany and the Soviet Union was much worse. Germany is located in the northern part of Europe, and although it also has a coastline, it is divided into east and west by Denmark, with the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the east. During World War I, Germany's sea exit was blocked in the North Sea and forced to fight the Battle of Jutland with the British Royal Navy, which it lost. During World War II, Germany changed its tactics and no longer fought a decisive battle in the oceans, but vigorously developed unlimited submarine warfare, but in the end it still failed to break through the North Sea.
It can be said that Germany lost both world wars geographically. If Germany had a maritime environment like France's, and had received a steady stream of resources from the outside world, the United States would not have been the hegemon of the world. The same is true of the Soviet Union, which, although large, did not have a decent outlet to the sea, and was trapped and died on the Eurasian continent by the United States.
The lessons of the failures of Germany and the Soviet Union have fully demonstrated that the future world belongs to the sea power countries, and the era of land power countries dominating the world has passed. It can be found that the world powers that developed after World War II are all countries with superior marine environments, and the vast majority of those landlocked countries are in a state of poverty and weakness due to the lack of communication channels with the outside world.
So, is the mainland a land or sea power?
Strictly speaking, the mainland is a composite country of sea and land power. As can be seen in the map, the continent is located on the southeastern edge of the Eurasian continent, most of the border line is on land, there are 14 land neighbors, and the southeast is connected with the marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, with more than 10,000 kilometers of coastline and more than 3 million square kilometers of territorial waters.
From a historical and cultural point of view, the mainland is a traditional agrarian country, and there have been few outward expansions from the sea in history, and it is a typical land power country. From a geopolitical point of view, although the mainland's marine environment is not as superior as that of the United States and Britain, it is much better than that of Russia and Germany, and it fully possesses the innate conditions for becoming a sea power country.
The fly in the ointment is that the mainland's maritime conditions are not spacious enough, and from north to south, the Japanese archipelago and Southeast Asian countries are scattered like a chain at the mainland's doorstep. The "Theory of Sea Power" points out that a sea power country must have a strong navy, excellent seaports, and smooth shipping routes in order to contend with the enemy and give full play to the power of sea power. However, it is clear that the mainland's current sea routes are not smooth enough, and it can even be said that it is being pinched in the hands of the enemy.
In contrast, the environment in India is much better
India is located in the South Asian subcontinent, the Eurasian continent extends southward, forming a peninsula, due to the flat terrain, low latitude, the northeast Himalayas intercept the moisture blowing from the Indian Ocean, thus forming abundant precipitation in the South Asian subcontinent. It has to be said that the Creator is really good to India, the land is fertile, the rain and heat are at the same time, the most suitable for the growth of crops, and the most likely to produce a strong civilization.
Even more superior is its marine environment. India is bordered by the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Indian Ocean to the south, and the Arabian Sea to the west, all of which are part of the Indian Ocean, and can easily enter the ocean from any direction.
Of course, India's geographical location is not without its flaws. Its northeastern region borders the mainland, with a large altitude drop and on the lower side, which can be attacked by the mainland from a high position, and even hit New Delhi without much difficulty. The Himalayas act like a natural wall that keeps India's ambitions firmly at bay.
Generally speaking, India's geographical location is much better than that of the mainland, and at the same time, it is firmly restrained by the mainland, which is why India has repeatedly deliberately provoked incidents, trying to seize some high ground and slightly reverse its disadvantage. Here, we would like to pay our respects to the soldiers who guard the frontier. There is no fortress in the world that cannot be broken, and no matter how strong the antenna is, there is a time when it is broken, if there is really an unbreakable line of defense, it must be the iron will of the soldiers on the border.