India and China: Sifting the ‘generic’ from the ‘specific’

Abstract

Contemporary Sino-Indian relations reveal a trend accommodating much-needed bilateral comprehensiveness—a consequence of new variables entering the relationship. This chapter examines at a generic level the primary determinants influencing bilateral relations, with the narrative adhering to understanding established and newer variables that go into foreign policy decision-making vis-á-vis each other. In political terms, pegged along with the contested boundary dispute is the Tibet issue that possesses antithetical characteristics for both countries—as a strong domestic determinant for China in its relations with India and a powerful strategic constraint for India in its relations with China. In strategic terms, the Indo–US nuclear deal of 2005 and growing competition for influence in the Indian Ocean by the two countries are recent and fast-evolving strategic developments posing the potential to influence bilateral relations. Adopting a critical tone—a constant feature running through the paper—and identifying disjunctions in the bilateral, this chapter interprets Sino-Indian relations by establishing their differing perceptions and behaviour towards each other.