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Comment by nblgbg | Hacker News Reader

"I understand your skepticism, but realistically, I don't see the case. Pakistan is in a very bad situation. The U.S. has cut off a lot of funding over the past decate. They were on the verge of bankruptcy a couple of years ago, and China bailed them out.

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New proxy war between US-aligned India and China-supported Pakistan?

My understanding is that China and India don't tend to get along politically.

China and India are still formally at war since the 60s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Indian_War and there is an ongoing dispute over territories in the east of India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Indian_border_dispute

The latter still makes the news in the West sometimes, not every year. HNers from those countries might give us some insights about how much their people feel it important.

For what it's worth, China has had past or current border disputes with every neighbour of theirs. They have issues with India, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, to say nothing of Taiwan. The ridiculous nine-dash line they've come up with contravenes international law and basic common sense.

If you meet an asshole in the morning, you're unlucky. If you meet nothing but assholes all day, you're the asshole.

My wife is from China and when I ask her what people there think of the India/China border disputes she says that people aren't aware of them.

Doesnt surprise me much. It's very far from 95% of the population and China doesnt have much to gain by being loud about the border skirmishes.

I don't know what you are drinking but America funded Pakistan and have been supporting it. How do you think they got f16 for free

Drinking ignorance. Thank you for the additional info.

A lot has changed over the years. While the soviets were supplying India and propping up their puppet state in Afghanistan the US used Pakistan as a proxy.

But by the time the US were hunting Bin Laden a lot had changed and support has been trailing off.

Now most recently Trump has been growing the US pro-Israeli - and basically being broad-stroke anti-every-kind-of-muslim - policy and actions in the gulf and has put the now-meagre levels of ongoing US aid to Pakistan completely on hold.

That’s changing. Both countries need each other now in the absence of American money. Recent rhetoric from both sides has been reconcilatory

India is not US aligned. They're an independent country with an independent foreign policy, doing whatever makes sense for them.

Buying Russian gas on the cheap, buying French, American, Russian military equipment.

China is a potential threat to them, which is likely to mean an alliance with the US will makes sense to them, especially if the US becomes more hostile to CHina.

With the current US administration I doubt it. Daily 180 degree policy changes are not suitable for alliances.

Not convinced India is particularly US aligned, and while Pakistan is relations have deteriorated in the past, the us has backed Pakistan more than India.

Maybe this time the us would back India as part of a proxy war.

The thing is, the US doesn't want partners; it wants allies. And that's too big of a commitment for India to make. This is basically the central tension that keeps US-India relations from moving too fast.

US doesn’t want allies now. It wasn’t vassal states and transaction deals.

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