India and China: The Defining Rivalry — Jagannath Panda

This episode of The IR thinker examines the shifting dynamics of India–China relations with Dr Jagannath Panda, focusing on historical border tensions such as the Galwan Valley clashes, China’s naval expansion in the Indian Ocean and India’s military and diplomatic responses. The conversation also considers India’s alternatives to the Belt and Road Initiative, energy security, diaspora politics, the impact of China–Pakistan ties and the limits of existing scholarship on this pivotal relationship.Jagannath PandaDr Jagannath Panda is a Senior Fellow at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies and Head of the Stockholm Centre for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs at the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Sweden, as well as a professor at the University of Warsaw. A leading specialist on Indo-Pacific affairs, his research focuses on India’s relations with major Indo-Pacific powers, EU–India relations and European connectivity and maritime initiatives in the region. He also holds research affiliations in Japan and Australia and serves as Series Editor for Routledge Studies on Think Asia and as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Asian Public Policy.Publications:Quad Plus and Indo-PacificIndia-Japan-ASEAN TriangularityIndia-China RelationsContent00:00 - Introduction02:08 - Historical Border Disputes of Galwan Valley06:04 - Galwan Valley Negotiations08:52 - Challenges in Concluding Galwan Valley Negotiations11:43 - The Quad Alliance, China and India15:16 - China’s Naval Expansion in the Indian Ocean: Strategic Implications for India18:16 - India’s Naval Modernisation21:46 - India’s Alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative23:45 - Energy Security Challenges between India and China25:49 - Diaspora Politics in India-China Relations27:55 - Impact of Pakistan-China Relations on India30:30 - Limitations of Western Scholars’ Understanding of India-China RelationsFollow & Further ResourcesSubstack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ir-thinker/X: https://x.com/irthinker_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/irthinkerfb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.