Periods of Military Conflict, Periods of Peace

An Exploration of the Conditions Governing the China–India Relationship

Bibliographic Data

ID22116334
AuthorsKesava Chandra Varigonda (0000-0003-0899-3804, National University of Singapore, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume12
Issue3
Pages364-388
Publication date2025-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Asian Security and International Affairs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2347-7970 • E-ISSN: 2349-0039
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/23477970251347739
OpenAlexW4411433978
LanguageEN
References cited41

This article generalises the conditions under which the China–India relationship descends into periods of military conflict or attains periods of peace. Adapting from existing scholarship, the article proposes three conditions that govern the occurrence of periods of military conflicts: political and military assertions of territorial claims, tacit support for separatism in either country, and competition for influence in South Asia. Through a comparative a study of two long periods of military conflict (between the late-1950s and mid-1970s; between the late-2000s and early-2020s), a long period of peace (between the late-1980s and mid-2000s), and a short period of military conflict in 1986–1987, this article demonstrates that a heightening of all three conditions leads to protracted periods of military conflict, while their stabilisation leads to protracted periods of peace. The heightening of only one or two of the conditions may lead to a short period of military conflict

China · Development economics · Economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Scholarship · Sociology · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law · Political Conflict and Governance · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

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