Sino-Pakistan Friendship,Changing South Asian Geopolitics and India’s Post-Obama Options

Abstract

In the context of changing global geopolitics, South Asia as a global pivot amongst major regions and powers has recently acquired a more central geostrategic position. China and Pakistan have long been sharing strong political, cultural and economic relations and are portrayed as all-weather friends, amplifying their engagement to secure their respective specific interests within and outside the region. This Sino-Pakistan link has been treating India as a collective target, with China acting contrary to India’s interests also in light of rising Indo-US strategic leverage. Against this complex backdrop, which also implicates Central Asia, the ultimate focus of this article is to locate India’s geostrategic interests and future prospects in view of the strong Sino-Pak friendship. Our key findings suggest that in this new ‘Great Game’, Indo-US links are going to become even more crucial, but that India should not just wait for US decisions.

Keywords

Afghanistan Central Asia China–India relations geopolitics India Indo-US links SAARC Sino-Pak friendship South Asia

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