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1. Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic powerfully impacted on India’s internal situation. India’s foreign policy, on the contrary, was largely unaffected by it. Hence, in 2020, India’s international relations were moulded by two pandemic-unrelated political developments: the confrontation with China and the increasingly closer alignment to the US. The former process occurred in a way unexpectedly, as India-China relations at the end of 2019 appeared to be improving. The latter process, on the other hand, occurred in spite of the problems caused to India by the neo-protectionist policies of the Trump administration and their adverse impact on India.
This article is focussed on the analysis of these two developments, which – as shown below – are strictly interrelated.
2. The India-China confrontation
The most dramatic and highly visible development characterizing India’s foreign relations in the year under review was India’s confrontation with China along the Himalayan border. In a way, it was an unexpected process, as, at the end of 2019 and in the first quarter of 2020, the relations between the two Asian giants appeared to have taken a turn for the better. On 21 December 2019, at the 22nd meeting between Chinese and Indian special representatives on boundary issues, the two sides «reached consensus on strengthening trust measures». They also «agreed to make regulations on safeguarding peace and tranquility in border areas, enhance communication and exchanges between the border troops of the two countries, as well as expand border trade and personnel exchanges». In fact, the atmosphere of the meeting was so good that Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval went so far to claim that «Chinese and Indian leaders have provided a new vision and strategic guidance for the development of bilateral ties and the solution of boundary issues».1 Still in March 2020, Senior Fellow and Director of the China Program at the Stimson Center Yun Sun pointed out that «China and India have announced 70 events throughout the year to celebrate the 70th anniversary of their diplomatic relations». She also noted that the official rapprochement between these two global giants «represents a case of major realignment – a rare case for the Chinese playbook».2
Of course, Yun Sun, in her article, highlighted the many problems that still beset India-China relations. Nevertheless, it...