LONDON — This year is ending with some troubling signs of future instability in Asia, as two of the most powerful states are increasingly at odds with each other.
China's lack of support to India in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks and its attempts to block approval of the U.S.-India civilian nuclear energy cooperation pact at the Nuclear Suppliers Group have reinforced perceptions in India that China will do everything possible to halt India's emergence as a major regional and global player.
Tensions over the boundary between the two sides are escalating. A few months back, China opened another front by raising objections over an area previously thought to have been settled. It contested Indian control of a 2.1-sq.-km area known as the Finger Area, in the northernmost tip of the Indian state of Sikkim.