After all, having over 1 billion people will make you a economic powerhouse no matter what,
Or it could become a major liability. India in many ways is far better connected economically, especially in the technology sector, but its mass population and the fairly extreme poverty among that population are dragging India's economy down. Qing China was seriously destabilized by its out-of-control population growth in the 18th century, as living standards among China's rural population plummitted from 1750 to 1900 because the imperial system was overwhelmed by the population. Think of that; one of the planet's most wealthy and bureaucratized states in the 18th century, seen in the 17th and early 18th centuries by visiting Europeans as a model of state organization, drowned in its own humanity.
There are few certainties in projecting political history. Both China and India have the possibility to become truly great states and world powers in their own right, but they both also carry within them great weaknesses and liabilities that can undermine the immense economic progress each has made, probably moreso than most other states. India's challenge will be to resolve the extreme nature of the economc chasm that exists within, and its ability to rectify the very extreme diversity - social, ethnic, religious - that is very connected to the economic and social inequities. China's main challenge will be to develop a modern form of government that facilitates the kind of economy and society China is developing, at least along its coastal provinces, while at the same time juggling the growing inequalities in terms of living standard and economic opportunity arising between different parts of the country. And did someone mention that there are a billion Chinese as well...?
I think the East/West divide is superficial. While that's not to claim that it is non-existant, I think a basic common ground has been found as to what is desirable for states and what is acceptable. Don't get me wrong; there's still plenty to disagree on, but while our disagreements are still often couched in the language of east vs. West, in reality the underlying motivations ae often very similar and mutually-understandable, if not wholly agreed.