ABSTRACT
The rise of the three non-Western powers, namely, China, India, and Russia, to the center stage of world politics, is presumably the most important geopolitical issue of the contemporary era. It is transforming the world in a way never seen before since the Industrial Revolution. How they relate to each other and to the West decisively determines the individual power’s international trajectory and the evolution of the world order at large. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has formed an over a decade-long strategic partnership with Russia and has recently joined India to publicly commit to building a strategic partnership with the South Asian power. At the beginning of the new millennium, Chinese officials and analysts alike declare that Sino-Russian relations have never been better, a sentiment echoed by their Russian counterparts. Strikingly, in a short period of time, the two countries have settled (if not solved altogether) outstanding bilateral issues that historically have derailed amity; developed frequent, regularized highest-level meetings; pledged and sometimes worked together to promote a less Western-dominated world order. By comparison, Sino-Indian ties are a lot more nascent, tentative, and uncertain. Still, the two Asian powers have shown an unprecedented willingness to accommodate each other’s quickly ascending international role.
