Manish Tewari | The long view from New Delhi Published : Apr 11, 2021, 12:00 am IST Updated : Apr 11, 2021, 12:00 am IST The persisting stand-off with China must make India rethink its relationship structures both in the Asian and global context What then are India’s options to protect its broader strategic interests, namely, keep the Chinese at bay. (Photo: AP) The persisting stand-off with China must make India rethink its relationship structures both in the Asian and global context. How is India geo-strategically placed currently? On its northern borders it confronts an aggressive China. On its western borders it is currently in a state of a partial thaw qua Pakistan. A melt that can again go back to a state of deep freeze at any point of time. On the east the strains with regard to the economic blockade of Nepal in 2015 still continue to linger. Bhutan is caught in the Sino-Indian cleft stick. Bangladesh, though reaffirming the centrality of India to its external environment, is both conscious of and eager to leverage the rise of China. Myanmar is in the throes of violent convulsions following a military coup d’état on February 1, 2021, that is having reverberations across the Indo-Burmese border as well.