China-India-Russia Alliance

The 1990s was a hectic period for Russia, to say the least. With the collapse of the USSR and the encroachment of NATO into the former Eastern Bloc anxieties were running high among many. Such as Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov an opponent of NATO's expansion who proposed a "strategic triangle" between Russia, China, and India to counterbalance the US.

Primakov rose further when Yeltsin needed a compromise figure for Prime Minister in 1998. But during Yeltsin's impeachment proceedings, Primakov refused to dismiss the Communist ministers who were leading the process thus making Yeltsin dismiss him. If the impeachment proceeding had succeeded Primakov was a leading figure to become President.

What if the impeachment succeeds and Primakov becomes President or even easier Primakov dismissed the ministers giving Yeltsin no reason for dismissing him. Did this alliance have a chance of succeeding or were the disputes between China and India too great to solve? If a new bloc is formed how would the 2000s and 2010s look like especially with the War on Terror and the Iraq War (Primakov is an Arabist and tried to prevent the US invasion of Iraq)? Could a possible second Cold War break out between NATO and this alliance?
 
Just my two cents on India. There's the view that China-India is not just a consequence of 1962 disputes, and the other view that they are fundamentally rivalling civilisations that happens to be engaged in a political economy zero-sum game given their similar stages of development.

I happen to think Modi-Xi reset and subsequent summitry were superficial, as they continue to compete for influence, market shares and whatnot. Also, India doesn't do formal alliances, which makes ideas of RIC, BRIC or even their current ideas of an Indo-Pacific counterweight around India-Japan-Australia fall on its own premise: It's simply an entity that never commits to other powers.
 
India considers Russia as a friend. But the case of China is different. The border dispute between India and China is more than six decades old. There are other reasons also that have embittered the mutual relations. The close friendship between China and Pakistan and also the attempts of China to turn other South Asian countries against India are also reasons for rivalry. India has watched the interference of China in the affairs of her neighbors like Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka. At the same time India has kept open the door for economic co-operation with China through forums like BRICS and RIC. Also the term 'fundamentally rivalling civilizations' is not correct as India and China had no rivalries till they emerged as independent countries in the middle of the twentieth century.
 
fundamentally rivalling civilizations' is not correct as India and China had no rivalries till they emerged as independent countries in the middle of the twentieth century.

So the wars over control of the Silk Road under the Tang Dynasty, or the wars over Tibet for centuries, pre-colonisation, is nothing?

It’s a very different kind of rivalry than say, China-Japan - another kind of resent over racial and cultural dimensions on top of the territorial rivalry.
 
So the wars over control of the Silk Road under the Tang Dynasty, or the wars over Tibet for centuries, pre-colonisation, is nothing?

It’s a very different kind of rivalry than say, China-Japan - another kind of resent over racial and cultural dimensions on top of the territorial rivalry.
I haven't read about any authentic Indian kingdom or dynasty involved in wars with any Chinese kingdom over the control of the Silk Road or over Tibet in pre-colonisation days. I don't know if some minor North West Border states were involved but no major 'Indian' kingdoms were involved. Please explain similar events if you can help me.
 
The Sino-Pakistani alliance is a major foundation of Chinese foreign policy. China would have to face a major threat if was willing to drop its alliance with Pakistan and get in bed with India instead. Getting all three of these powers into one alliance is tricky, because the kind of fundamental threat that would get one of the three (Russia, India, China) to pivot away from its traditional alliances would likely come from the other two countries that in this possible alliance.

If there was a unified Korea with US bases, or a nuclear-armed Japan in alliance with NATO and a major middle eastern power, there might been an incentive for China to join this alliance. If its future history or the recent past, I'd assumed that China is the strongest member of this alliance.

A nuclear armed and pro-American Iran with hegemony in central Asia and the Middle East might be able threaten the geopolitical backyards of China, Russia, and India all at the same time.
 
Top