Why did India and China both view themselves as rising powers in the global politics in spite of tensions between them? Substantiate your answer by giving any four areas that have brought cordiality in their relationship

OR

Analyze the relationship between India and Pakistan.

China and India are both emerging economies that have great potential to challenge the existing unipolar structure of the world. Since 1954, India has maintained cordial relations with China through various policies like the signing of ‘Panchsheel’ and advocating China’s membership to the United Nations. But after 1957, several contentious issues rose including the 1962 military conflict, the Chinese takeover of Tibet, China’s assistance to Pakistan regarding their nuclear programme, etc. But both the countries are trying and have been quite successful to bring about a grudging sense of cordiality in their relation. The impetus to improve India’s relation with China was provided by the then Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi visited China in 1988 and since then the channels of communication and trade have opened up between the two countries.

• Various agreements regarding cooperation between the two countries have been signed which has led to an exchange of ambassadors between them both and easier dialogue pertaining to political decisions.

• Considering the long border shared between the two countries and the resultant border disputes, several Joint Working Groups have been set up to resolve the same.

• Economically, both China and India have adopted similar policies at the global stage including in the World Trade Organisation. Both have created special economic zones that have led to a phenomenal rise in foreign trade.

• Both China and India have signed several MOUs that has increased the transportation and communication links between them, advanced common economic goals and supported their global concerns.

The coalition of India and China is a powerful one that has the full potential of challenging the unipolar world system in existence today.

OR

India and Pakistan have always had a complex and largely hostile relation because of several historical and political events. Since the violent partition of British India in 1947, India and Pakistan have struggled to maintain any form of cordial relations between themselves.

• Kashmir issue – The Indian state of Kashmir has been a bone of contention between both the nations. It has led to several wars between them and has largely remained unsolved to this day.

• With both countries being nuclear enabled, a series of conflicts regarding strategic issues like the control of the Siachen Glacier, and acquisitions of arms have taken place.

• The Indian government has blamed the Pakistan Government of aiding and abetting terrorist activities against them. They have supplied proof but the issues remain unsolved.

• Issues regarding sharing of river waters flowing through both countries have also had a negative impact on the bilateral relations.

Several actions have been undertaken to improve the relationship between the two countries including several summits the most notable of which were the Shimla Summit, the Agra Summit and the Lahore Summit. Several confidence-building measures including the Delhi- Lahore Bus Service have aided in lowering the tensions between the two countries. Since the election of new governments in both India and Pakistan in the early 2010s, steps including the development of a consensus on the agreement of Non-Discriminatory Market Access on Reciprocal Basis (NDMARB) status for each other, which will liberalize trade have been taken. But repeated acts of cross-border terrorism have hampered the relationship between India and Pakistan and it continues to be frigid and precarious.