I
ndia has a complicated history with regards to its border with China. Rajiv Gandhi’s December 1988 visit to Beijing was the beginning of a short pause in India-China border relations due to political turmoil in India. With the defeat of Rajiv Gandhi in the 1989 elections and the short lives of the V.P. Singh and Chandrashekhar governments that lasted till early 1991, the government had its hands full. Following the 1991 elections and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, a minority government headed by P.V. Narasimha Rao took office but with its first priority being to deal with the deep economic crisis confronting India.
Therefore, it was only in 1992 that the government was able to re-focus on China. By this time, both governments saw a congruence of sorts in their economic opening to the world and the need for peace and tranquillity on their border.
