The US factor in Sino-Indian relations : India's fine balancing

Abstract

"The monograph aims to determine the extent to which the US is a factor as an intervening variable in the complex India-China relations. The intervening variable works both as determinant and consequent of the triangular relations. The study attempts to probe the research question as to how China perceives U.S. policy towards India in particular, and whether growing Indo-US ties can affect China’s security interest negatively. Related to this research question is how India is trying to calibrate its relationship with both USA and China, and how far India has been successful in this endeavour in the context of strategic distrust and security dilemma. It endorses the assertion that “skillful maneuvering and manipulating of great power alignment can add to a country’s existing diplomatic capital in more practical terms.”1As the full import of the US factor in Sino-Indian relations can only be grasped in the context of Indo-US relations and Sino-Indian relations, it is imperative that these two aspects are put in perspective, while elucidating the US factor in India-China relations.