ISAS Insights

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, besides the latest cancellation of an Indo-Pakistan meeting at the level of national security advisors, have once again turned the spotlight on the triangular equation among these countries. In this context, as Mr Xi presses ahead with a connectivity project of singular Sino-Pakistani benefit, China faces two options. It can continue to capitalise on its strategic access to Pakistan, despite Mr Xi’s clearly-expressed concerns over ‘anti-China’ terrorism emanating from there. By this, China may want to keep India off-balance. But Beijing, with its claim of being a non-hegemonic power, can also seek to influence Islamabad and harmonise the triangular equation.