ABSTRACT
The economic and military connectivities that China seeks to establish generate a new geo-economic dimension to the pre-existing security dilemma problem for India, as it is no longer purely a military or strategic challenge at the border and the arming of the parties, especially in the naval arena, assumes a larger geopolitical competition. The security dilemma between rivals such as China and India in the globalization era is thus different from the Cold War period when the adversaries were economically isolated from each other while they engaged in military and political competition. China’s embracing of Pakistan as a virtual military ally and the US–India and US–Japan soft balancing coalitions have generated new triangular and quadrilateral security relationships, complicating the security dilemma for both Beijing and New Delhi. The chapter shows that a security dilemma need not be symmetrical or linear. It can occur in certain periods and be less manifest in others.
