Date of Award
8-28-2025
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Discipline
Social Sciences
Department
Government and International Affairs
First Advisor
Prof. SHARMA Shalendra
Second Advisor
Prof. ZHANG Baohui
Abstract
The new global geopolitical order has shifted from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific at the dawn of the twenty-first century. Given the fact that both China and India are currently regarded as major rising powers, the relationship between the two countries is among the most important concerns in the contemporary geopolitical landscape. Therefore, it is of utmost significance to have a comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of their relationship. The dynamics of the relationship between China and India have been marked by the presence of a security issue for a considerable amount of time. It has been suggested that the security dilemma has been a cornerstone of their overall relation. However, the dynamics of the security dilemma between both the countries has been asymmetrical. This is mainly due to the fact that there was asymmetry in power and how threat was perceived.
Beginning in the 1980’s, as the power relations between the two states became more unequal due to China's rapid economic ascent, it rendered the threat perception decidedly one sided, thus creating an asymmetrical security dilemma. However, this research finds that with India's economic rise over the past two decades has seen a sharp shift in its policy approach towards China, particularly since the emergence of Narandra Modi as India’s prime minister in 2014. Specifically, there has been a clear shift in the dynamics of the security dilemma and the general threat perception. Since 2014, India's approach to China has been far more robust making it less asymmetrical, as evidenced by the border crisis in 2017 in Doklam and 2020 at Galwan. Similarly, New Delhi’s Indo-Pacific strategy apparently designed to balance China have also contributed to the improvement of its relations with third parties, most notably the United States. Additionally, India has been sharpening its peripheral strategy underscoring its confidence vis-à-vis direct security competition with China. Overall, this has made the perception of the threat, which was previously emanating from India, to become more symmetrical. This, in turn, is also causing the security dilemma, which was previously unduly asymmetric in nature, to become more symmetric.
Language
English
Copyright
The copyright of this thesis is owned by its author. Any reproduction, adaptation, distribution or dissemination of this thesis without express authorization is strictly prohibited.
Recommended Citation
Deb, S. (2025). The changing dynamics of India-China relations since 2014: A shift from asymme tric to symmetric security dilemma? (Doctoral thesis, Lingnan University, Hong Kong). Retrieved from https://commons.ln.edu.hk/otd/253/