In three world capitals, the gaze turns inwards

Washington and Delhi are focused on domestic political cycles. Beijing is confronting domestic economic troubles. This is a moment of both possibility and danger

- Prashant Jha

The fundamentals in the India-China-United (US) triangle are in States place. Both Delhi and Washington DC, for different reasons, don't like Beijing's power, assertiveness and ambitions. Both are taking steps independently, together, and with a set of partners in the region and beyond, to pool their capabilities to deter China-not always, but more often than in the past. Beijing doesn't like Washington DC's dominance or Delhi's rise. On its own, and with the few who it can cobble together, it is taking steps to try to alter the regional balance of power in South Asia against Delhi and the wider global balance of power against DC.

The contours of this triangular dynamic, where two is greater than one, will not change. But in international politics, within a broader structure that politicians find themselves in and shape, they live and operate on a day-to-day basis. There is a constant tussle between the short-term, tactical, locally driven imperatives and medium-term, wider, systemic requirements. There is no long-term, for, as Keynes said, in the long run, we are all dead. And at this moment, this tension between the immediate and medium-term is particular acute in all three countries.