The first half of 1971 witnessed some significant developments in South Asia: the emergence of a liberation movement for an independent Bangla Desh, the Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) insurgency in Ceylon and the landslide electoral victory of Smt. Gandhi in India. These developments came at a time when China, in the aftermath of the decisions taken at the Ninth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, had begun implementing a reactivated tactical line in foreign policy.

It may be stated at the outset that this essay is essentially an attempt to identify some critical commonalities in the approaches of Sun Zi and Kautilya, the two profound strategists of the ancient Orient, one belonging to China and the other to India, and who exercised considerable influence for centuries that followed in their respective countries.