ABSTRACT
China and Pakistan continue to dominate India’s external security concerns. In the period 2009–10, India felt pressurised by certain acts of China, like border incursions, issuing stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), objection to the visits of India’s Prime Minister and the Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, and threatening references to India in China’s official or semi-official media. The 13th round of India–China Special Representative talks on the boundary issue did not yield much. China’s military nexus with Pakistan was further strengthened. China’s inroads into India’s traditional sphere of influence in the rest of South Asia continued. Some hope was derived from the fact that China and India cooperated in formulating a joint response on behalf of the developing world at the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen in December 2009. But this was far too inadequate to provide any assurance to India that no harm will come from China on account of its superior power.
