11 September 2018<\/p>\n
Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, GIS Reports<\/p>\n
The triangle of China, India and Pakistan is a region where tensions are high. Ever since the mismanaged and partially forced creation of India and Pakistan when the subcontinent gained its independence from the United Kingdom, the two countries have been at odds, fighting four wars against each other \u2013 three over the division of\u00a0Kashmir<\/a>. At the border between China and India, there are\u00a0still disputed territories<\/a>. These two powers have also waged war against each other. Today, areas of conflict remain.<\/p>\n Both China and India have become more assertive in recent decades. China is challenging the United States for\u00a0global hegemony<\/a>\u00a0and believes it is entitled to Asian predominance. India claims the role of leading power in South Asia, the southern flank of the Himalayas and especially the Indian Ocean.<\/p>\n Historically \u2013 mainly during the Cold War \u2013 India saw itself as leader of the nonaligned nations, though it leaned toward the Soviet side. Pakistan was an ally of the U.S.<\/p>\n Lately this has changed. As China\u2019s influence has risen, the U.S. and India have grown closer. The Americans pivoted toward India mostly due to the countries\u2019 mutual interest in containing China. Neither power wants the\u00a0Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean<\/a>\u00a0to get any stronger.<\/p>\n Chiefly due to U.S. sensitivity regarding\u00a0Pakistan\u2019s policies toward Afghanistan<\/a>, relations between those two nations cooled. This gave China a tremendous opportunity to access the Indian Ocean through Pakistan and western China. China\u2019s interests are manifold: its less-developed western regions obtain access to the sea, it gains an additional inroad to the Indian Ocean and it allies itself with one of India\u2019s main rivals.<\/p>\n In this context, China is establishing the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a branch of its huge\u00a0Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)<\/a>. It will include railways and highways across the Himalayas, through Pakistan to the port of\u00a0Gwadar<\/a>, which China is developing on the coast of the Arabian Sea. On the surface, this might look like an advantageous boost to Pakistan\u2019s economy, but the result will be increased debt to China, as well as more political and economic dependence.<\/p>\n Nepal is situated on the southern flank of the Himalayas and is open to India\u2019s heartland. Previously, Nepal\u2019s politics and economy had been strongly dominated by India. Today, China is courting Nepal, improving roads between the two countries and offering access to its ports. China may thus develop another ally on India\u2019s border.<\/p>\n The U.S. is trying to counteract China\u2019s efforts. Last week U.S. Secretary of State\u00a0Mike Pompeo<\/span>\u00a0and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford visited Pakistan. The countries agreed to \u201creset\u201d the relationship and reached an understanding that the Trump administration and the new Pakistani government would try to meet each other\u2019s expectations. Just a few days earlier, President Trump had canceled $300 million in military aid to Pakistan. Pakistan\u2019s new prime minister, Imran Khan, had taken office only a couple of weeks prior.<\/p>\n The next day, Secretary of State Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met their Indian counterparts in New Delhi and finalized defense pacts that could bring their militaries closer amid growing Chinese influence across Asia.<\/p>\n The countries are considering carrying out a major joint military exercise, and the U.S. will support India\u2019s construction of another aircraft carrier. Washington will also refrain from taking any measures against India for importing Iranian oil, suggesting only that New Delhi should reduce the quantity. In contrast to Washington\u2019s actions toward Turkey, Secretaries Pompeo and Mattis did not threaten India for its plans to purchase an S-400 air-defense system from Russia. This shows how important it is for Washington to keep India on its side.<\/p>\n Just after Secretary Pompeo\u2019s departure, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Islamabad confirmed that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor remains a top priority under Prime Minister Khan. Mr. Wang and Mr. Qureshi both emphasized the value of the corridor for Pakistan, potentially sending a message to Washington.<\/p>\n The tensions between India, Pakistan and China are explosive. India has disputed territories with both of the other two countries. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has followed Hindu nationalist policies, which tend to alienate India\u2019s 170 million Muslims and therefore provoke Pakistan, an Islamic republic. China has the superior military by far, and claims that the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh \u2013 with some 1.3 million inhabitants \u2013 is rightfully Chinese territory.<\/p>\n However, a clash is more likely to occur between India and Pakistan, with Beijing supporting Islamabad. In consequence, Washington would step in on New Delhi\u2019s side. That all these countries are nuclear powers actually stabilizes this situation somewhat \u2013 for the moment. As tensions rise, this factor could lose strength as a deterrent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 11 September 2018 Prince Michael of Liechtenstein, GIS Reports The triangle of China, India and Pakistan is a region where tensions are high. Ever since the mismanaged and partially forced<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-11421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-room","tag-25"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpolicyconference.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}New alliances<\/h2>\n
Charm offensive<\/h2>\n
Nuclear deterrent<\/h2>\n