The Geo-Political Rivalry between the United States and China in Indo-Pacific: Implications on Indo-Russia Relations in the 21st Century

Abstract

The article is an attempt to examine how the economic rise of China is altering the geopolitics of the post-Cold War era, especially, the Indo-Pacific region. The bipolar world order came to an end with the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). However, the fragmentation of the Soviet Union led to the emergence of new geopolitical and strategic formations in the contemporary world order. The important developments are increasingly felt in the Indo-Pacific region than perhaps elsewhere in the world. It is because the region witnessed the intensified superpower rivalry during the Cold War power configurations were at its peak. The United States has developed a close nexus with China and Pakistan to contain the influence of the Soviet Union. In response, the latter maintained close cooperation with India. However, despite the end of the Cold War confrontation, the contemporary world order is witnessing an increasing geopolitical rivalry between the erstwhile allies such as the US and China. The former has developed close bilateral relations with India resulting in the formation of QUAD. While Russia denounces the QUAD as an Asian NATO having an ulterior motive to contain the Chinese rise in post-Cold War world politics. It is in this context, the article aims at analysing the potential of geopolitical developments taking place in the Indo-Pacific in shaping the contemporary world order.