The future Superpower rivals: China and India

I'm not sure, now I come to think of it, what defines 'superpower', but by most historical standards I suspect China ought to be so classified and India seems not far behind. Have a look at this opinion piece (admittedly written by an Indian, by the looks of it): Superpower rivalry, Sino-Indian style | Kapil Komireddi | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk The final paragraph says: "The Sino-Indian conflict will define the 21st century in a more complicated manner than the Soviet-American conflict characterised the second half of the 20th. So far, this clash has received very little attention in the west. In the not-too-distant future, people everywhere are going to have to pick sides. The troubled peace of today is necessarily a prelude to the impending war."
I suspect that there is a great deal of truth in this and we should begin thinking about it sooner rather than later. Not least, what kind of effect does this have on global Christianity and vice-versa? Both countries have not insignificant Christian minorities which are somewhat on the edge in terms of persecution, that is to say, Christians are tolerated officially but often suffer local persecution (think Orissa) or pressure for 'unregistered' activity. Such attitudes are likely to be imitated by 'client' states and perhaps actively promoted by the emerging superpowers. Of special interest might be Chinese interests in Africa which are already having 'destabilising' effects in Sudan and other central African states because China is far less likely than the west to link aid to human rights issues.