The Restoration of Sino-Indian Comity following India's Nuclear Tests

Indian justification of its May 1998 nuclear tests in terms of Chinese threats to India prompted a multifacited Chinese campaign pressuring New Delhi to retract its offensive statements. One significant element of Chinese concerns with Indian statements was apprehension over an Indian drift toward alignment with the United States. Beijing's efforts were successful and within two years New Delhi had given Beijing the requisite assurances and the normal state of Sino-Indian amity was restored. Sino-Indian interactions in the period after India's May 1998 tests demonstrates the extreme sensitivity of both powers to the other's alignment with the United States in the post-Cold War world.