Probing the Bounds of the Post-1991 Sino-Indian Rapprochement: A Focus on the Border Talks

Abstract

Focusing on the Sino-Indian border negotiations, this article argues that there is a limit to rapprochement and that Sino-Indian ties are still fraught with friction and disputes that imply the persistence of an enduring rivalry. The articles gives the historical background of the China-India border dispute and examines events and developments that precipitated a Sino-Indian rapprochement in the 1990s, analyzing the underlying tensions underneath this facade of warming relations. It discusses important developments during border negotiations between the two countries. The conclusion holds that the current Sino-Indian reconciliation is slowly being eroded by a growing power asymmetry between the two states that will diminish the prospects for an early settlement of their border dispute and, possibly, usher in a new era of China-India rivalry.