Authors : Harsh V. Pant | Atul Kumar

Originally Published LKY 

Published on Nov 01, 2025

If one were to distil the essence of the India–China–United States triangle at present, it would be apprehension: an enduring undercurrent of mistrust that shapes political, economic, and strategic interactions among the three. The India–China relationship, despite intermittent phases of cordiality, remains hostage to its deep-seated suspicion. History and geography continue to shape this mistrust. The India–US engagement, too, has oscillated between promise and disenchantment, with fragile mutual trust eroded in recent months owing to an overtly transactional approach by Washington. At the trilateral level, these layers of unease have stymied any meaningful convergence on long-term strategic issues. Each power remains wary of being outflanked by the other two. What emerges instead is a narrow, short-term pragmatism and incessant hedging that risks undermining the regional balance that the three actors would want to preserve in order to enhance their economic and security interests.

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https://www.orfonline.org/research/india-china-us-a-triangle-of-apprehension

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Professor Harsh V. Pant is Honorary Member of the Romanian Institute for Europe-Asia Studies – IRSEA.

The opinions expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position or view of IRSEA