Mahapatra, Chintamani

Abstract
It is not uncommon among scholars of international politics to analyse issues and events in a trilateral perspective. There are several ways one can devise triangular units of relationships. Member countries of the conceptual triangle can transcend geographic regions or sub-regions. The functional issues that may be considered in the analysis can range from economics to politics to strategic considerations. A brief classification of such triangles can illuminate the concept better.
It is not uncommon among scholars of international politics to analyse issues and events in a trilateral perspective. There are several ways one can devise triangular units of relationships. Member countries of the conceptual triangle can transcend geographic regions or sub-regions. The functional issues that may be considered in the analysis can range from economics to politics to strategic considerations. A brief classification of such triangles can illuminate the concept better.external power’s attempt to resolve a conflict between a state and a non-state entity aspiring for statehood, as for instance, the US efforts to resolve Israel- Palestine disputes. Last but not least, scholars have espoused the India-China- US triangle as a unit of analysis in recent years5. In this analysis, China, emerging as a rival superpower views the budding Indo-US ties with suspicion, while India and the US share common perceptions about the uncertainty surrounding China’s evolution as a new global power. At the same time, China and India have been moving ahead with cooperation in multiple fields, including a robust growth in trade ties.
The present article has a limited scope. It has made an attempt to examine a significant triangle of complex relationships comprising three nuclear powers of Southern Asia – India, China and Pakistan.
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