A Constructivist Approach Towards Sino-Indian Relations

Abstract

The slow process of socialization is the challenge to the construction of the Sino-Indian identities and interests given the evolution in the idea of cooperation. Currently, China and India are economically interdependent on each other due to their respective economic needs for growth. According to the social constructivist approach, there is room for cooperative engagement between China and India. In fact, socialization of state actors is the central causal process in constructivism which links actors and structures together. Socialization enables new ideas and thinking patterns, feelings and actions which lead to both expected and unexpected outcomes. In present times, varying ideas and identities have considerable influence on the conduct of relations among states. For constructivists, states do not necessarily engage in power-centric politics all the time. A rather pressing point when using the constructivist trajectory which evidently reflects in the Sino-Indian relations is the point and periods of uncertainly and the emergence of ideas over the passage of time. For instance, the national interest can be regarded as socially constructed, essentially using various agents of socialization. In Sino-Indian relations particularly, most part of national interest is derived from national identities. This paper seeks to explain and understand the Sino-Indian engagements, competition and co-operation in matters relating to national identity and interests.