ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the evolution of China's strategic thinking toward India through both official policy and intellectual discourse from the 1950s to 2024. The analysis reveals a cyclical pattern in Chinese attitudes, oscillating between friendship and rivalry across four leadership periods: Mao's trajectory from bonhomie to confrontation, Deng's reconciliation through economic pragmatism, Jiang–Hu's partnership framework, and Xi's renewed rivalry following the Doklam and Galwan crises. The study demonstrates how China's India policy reflects broader strategic priorities while being shaped by changing geopolitical contexts. Intellectually, Chinese approaches have shifted from predominantly liberal and constructivist perspectives emphasizing cooperation through the 2010s toward increasingly realist and rationalist frameworks prioritizing strategic competition. This theoretical transformation parallels the deterioration in bilateral relations after 2017, suggesting that China's scholarly discourse both reflects and potentially influences policy trajectories. India occupies a distinctive position in Chinese strategic thought—affecting all major arenas of foreign policy while remaining secondary to primary concerns like US–China relations.
