China and India: friends or foes?

Abstract

In 1988, Sino-India security cooperation was restored after decades of deep hostility following the 1962 China-India border war. Yet, in 1998, security cooperation between the two countries came to collapse such that Indian nuclear test, Pokhran II, was specifically targeted against China. What has determined the rise and fall of Sino-India cooperation from the late 1980s onwards? How far can Sino-India security cooperation be re-established in the twenty-first century? My research builds on the International Relations theorizing on the security dilemma and costly-signalling, and the Political Psychology literature on enemy images. It adopts a mixed-method approach to originally investigate the causal mechanisms promoting Sino-India security cooperation from 1988 to 1998, showing how far these are replicable in the light of the demise of security cooperation from 1998 onwards. It envisages a scope for peaceful interactions between two states whose relationship will be a key determinant of 21st century international security.