China and Crisis Management in South Asia

The crisis in the relationship between India and Pakistani has been going on for years. It has intensified in some periods, including the nuclear tests in 1998. China is an international actor that has always tried to overlook this crisis due to reasons of national interests and security. Indeed, China has historically sought to maintain a moderate approach to the security crises between India and Pakistan. China has regularly supported eliminating the tensions during the crises, and has encouraged diplomatic negotiations. However, though impartial with regard to the crises, Beijing has neither negated nor concealed its interest in supporting Pakistan due to its long-standing geostrategic link with it, which is China's relying point with regard to its balancing strategy on India. Yet, in the recent years, Beijing has generally been trying to play its role, as a third party, with Shuttle diplomacy to build peace in Indian-Pakistani relationship. This descriptive-analytical research is intended to investigate the role of China, through a causative approach, in the crisis between India and Pakistan.