New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- The United States of America, Russia and China-the state of relations among these three countries tends to determine how safe the world generally is for India. India feels threatened by China at its doorstep, with which it also has a territorial dispute that has turned bloody on a few occasions. India, therefore, seeks good relations with both the US and Russia.

An ideal world for India would be one in which it has good relations with both of them, and those two, the US and Russia, also have good relations with each other. In this world, India could build defence ties with both the US and Russia, and its relations with either will not be looked at with suspicion by the other. However, even if it can attempt to build...