Russia China Relations: Relevance for India

Publishers: IDSA and Shipra

ISBN: 81-7541-189-9

Rs 650

US $ 55

About the Book

The relations between Russia and China – one of the largest state in the world from point of view of territory and the other from point of view of population – have always impacted on the course of the global and regional geopolitics. No wonder, the course of Sino-Soviet relations has always evoked keen interest in the major capitals of the world. From the Indian perspectives, the study of Sino-Russian relations and their implications for India is of particular importance. India, Russia and China are the three largest countries of the Eurasian continent. Moscow-Beijing relationship at any given point of time – whether cooperative or antagonistic – has always tended to have profound implications for Indian policy towards both.

The narrative of Russia China relations in the present book focuses on the contemporary post-Soviet period. Beset by numerous domestic problems and external challenges, new Russia has sought to follow a ‘balanced’ policy towards the West as well as the East in a bid to create a conductive environment for the economic and military revival of the country. Indeed, both Moscow and Beijing have sought to improve their bilateral ties in the post-Cold War period without constraining the freedom of the sides in the pursuit of a flexible, multi-vector policy.

The central thrust as well as intricacies and nuances of Russia-China discourse are viewed in this volume against canvas of the regional and world geopolitics. The relevance for India is analysed and interwoven in the narrative.

About the Author

Dr. Jyotsna Bakshi, a Research Fellow at the IDSA from August 1997 to April 2002, specializes in Russia and Central Asia. The Indian Council of Social Sciences Research awarded her Doctoral Fellowship for Ph.D. She has taught Political Science to Post-Graduate classes for a number of years. She has also done post-doctoral research work at the Centre for the Study of Geopolitics, Panjab University, Chandigarh . Currently she is working as ICCR Visiting Associate Professor at Osh State University, Osh, Kyrgyzstan.

She has published many research papers and articles on the subject besides a book Russia and India from Ideology to Geopolitics

Contents

Acknowledgement
Preface
The Soviet Legacy
The Yeltsin Years
President Putin’s Russia and China
The Boundary Agreement
The Military-Technical Cooperation
Russia and China in Central Asia: Partnership or Rivarly?
Conclusion
Appendices
I. Text of Shanghai Five Agreement, (April 26, 1996)
II. Treaty of Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China (July 16, 2001)
III. Declaration by the heads of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (June 7, 2002)

Bibliography

Index