The Sino-Indian border dispute is left over by history. Since the late 1940s, this dispute, as a major factor in the twists and turns of Sino-Indian relations, has been persistent on the three dimensions of legal argument, international circumstance and domestic politics. Contending legal claims have been intricately interwoven with international and internal politics; and their interplay has complicated the negotiating process of the border settlement. This dissertation focuses primarily on the interplay of legal argument, international and internal events in the ebb and flow of the border dispute.; The origination and subsequent episodes of the Sino-Indian border dispute have involved two big and small triangular strategic relationships in Central Asia. From the late 19th century to the end of World War II, the big triangular relationship involved Britain, Russia and China, and the small one involved British India, China and Tibet. Since then, the big triangular relationship has involved the United States, the Soviet Union and China, and the small one has involved China, India and Pakistan. I identify and analyze the interactions of those triangular relationships affecting Sino-Indian relations in this project.; With the ending of the Cold War following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and with the strengthening of regional cooperation of South Asian nations, there may be a political solution to the border dispute as a historical legacy on the basis of the status quo and with the attitude of "looking forward" under the circumstances of the Sino-Indian friendship within the context of the post-Cold War international order.
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