China and South Asia

Abstract

Sino-Soviet rapprochement and a reevaluation of India's China policy by Rajiv Gandhi in 1987 have produced the most cordial Sino-Indian relations in over thirty years. Both Beijing and New Delhi desire still further improvements in bilateral relations but have been stymied by a paucity of parallel interests and by continuing fundamental conflicts over the territorial issue and China's role in South Asia. Zhou Enlai's 1960 proposal that China accept Indian claims in the eastern Himalayas while India accept China's claims in the region southeast of the Karakoram Pass no longer stands. Beijing now calls for Indian concessions in the east in exchange for Chinese concessions in the west. China also views military relations between itself and South Asian countries as legitimate relations well within the purview of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. To New Delhi, they constitute unacceptable threats to Indian security. Because of these continuing fundamental tensions and rivalries, China's entente cordiale with Pakistan remains important to Beijing.