About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1995 China Q. 317 (1995)
China-India Relations in the Post-Soviet Era: The Continuing Rivalry

handle is hein.journals/chnaquar36 and id is 325 raw text is: China-India Relations in the Post-Soviet Era: The Continuing Rivalry J. Mohan Malik In September 1993, China and India signed an agreement to maintain peace and tranquillity along their disputed Himalayan border. This agreement between the two Asian giants - which required both sides to respect the Line of Actual Control (LAC), that is to maintain the status quo pending a peaceful, final boundary settlement and to reduce military forces along the border in accordance with the principle of mutual and equal security - has been' described as a landmark agreement and a significant step forward in their uneasy relations since the 1950s.' It was a logical culmination of a series of developments since the late 1980s, especially the visit of India's Premier to Beijing in 1988 and the reciprocal visit of China's Premier to New Delhi in 1991; the end of the Cold War and the bipolar system following the Soviet collapse; the consequent dramatic changes in the global strategic environment; and the overall improvement in bilateral relations between China and India. However, the fact that Sino-Indian relations today seem to be better than at any time during the last four decades should not lead one to assume that all the hurdles in the relationship have been overcome. This article examines the factors underlying the current d6tente, and analyses Indian and Chinese perspectives on their bilateral relations as well as the wider post-Cold War Asian security environment. It concludes that a thaw in Sino-Indian relations notwithstanding, the two sides are poised for rivalry for regional dominance and influence in the multipolar world of the 21st century. Sino-indian Dialogue: An Exercise in Conflict Management Sino-Indian relations have been soured by territorial dispute, notably the rejection by the Chinese of the British-drawn McMahon Line of 1914 separating Tibet and India, the flight of the Dalai Lama to India in 1959, and the dispute remaining from the 1962 Sino-Indian border war- in which China occupied 14,500 square miles of territory in the Ladakh region of the Jammu & Kashmir state. Since the 1962 war, relations have been characterized by mutual antagonism, rivalry, distrust and hostilities. The Sino-Soviet split of the 1960s and the Indo-Pakistani animosity and 1. Shekhar Gupta and S. Chakravarti, Sino-Indian relations: vital breakthrough,India Today, 30 September 1993, p. 22; China and India paving way for peace, Beijing Review, 20-26 September 1993, p. 6; Lincoln Kaye, Bordering on Peace, Far Eastern Economic Review (hereafter FEER), 16 September 1993, p. 13; and Hands across the Himalayas, The Economist, 11 September 1993, p. 21. © The China Quarterly, 1995

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most