RUSSIA AS A FACTOR IN INDIA-CHINA RELATIONS.

The end of the Cold War in the late twentieth century opened onto a new epoch in international politics. The shift from bipolarity to unipolarity and then multipolarity has been a defining feature of the post-Cold War period. The new phenomenon of multipolarity has acted as both a mitigator and instigator, challenging the traditional concepts of bilateral cooperation and hostility. The relationships between India, China and Russia show an interesting overlap of contours. There is an exceptional and long friendship between India and Russia while this closeness is missing in India-China and Russia-China relations. Multilateral engagements through BRICS and the SCO are both challenging and cooperative; India and Russia, though wary of China's growing influence, have adopted policies of conciliation and in spite of inherent tensions and fault lines, the three are interdependent and need each other for security and economic growth. This paper focuses on Russia's influence on the bilateral relationship between India and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]