ABSTRACT
India-Pakistan relations are a rich and fertile ground for investigation and analysis, having generated an abundant literature on the sources of tensions, crises, conflict, war, and rivalry that have characterised the relationship. This chapter presents interlocked nature of foreign policy and state behaviour even during times using strategic triangle as a tool when there was little trade between the countries involved and, in some periods, little diplomatic interaction. It identifies the divergent strategies that India and Pakistan pursued as newly independent countries and the relationship that each framed with neighbouring China, which underwent major domestic upheavals as well as being a key actor in Cold War politics. The chapter considers China's position towards the two South Asian rivals during the Cold War and analyses the impact this had on the structure of relations within the region. It presents recent India-Pakistan, India-China and China-Pakistan relations that are examined to identify lingering nodal points where interests of all three continue to intersect.
