Nobody thought Stalin and Hitler would get together at the start of WWII like they did...yet they did and until Germany conducted Operation Barbarosa, it drove our military and political planners crazy. This would have the same effect, particularly if it grew into something more.
Wish I could get into Condi's head.....
Not as crazy as it drove the British and French at the time.
Curiously, some former Indian officials and diplomats I spoke to were exceedingly suspicious of China. Their view was that China has always tried to constrain India by proppoing up Pakistan wil nuclear and missile sales. But they feel that given their geographical location, it would be stupid not to take advantage of it for trade.
To paraphrase what one Indian diplomat told me recently - "In essence, the US and China both prop up Pakistan and enable it to get away with sponsoring terorrism against India as well as spreading nukes around the world. The difference is China makes it clear that it won't stop supporting Pakistan while the US patronizes us on democracy and "shared values" while propping up Pakistani dictators behind the scenes. So why should India agree to become an American tool against China? India might as well make the best out of the situation and stay neutral while freeing up business ties with China."
Hitler and Stalin both knew they would go at each other eventually. Hitler needed a safe rear while he took Western Europe. Stalin needed time to expand his own miltary to finally meet Germany when that time came. The pact bought what each other needed.
Does India have something to offer China that China needs in the near term? Like a way to facilitate the takeover of Taiwan?
I'm reminded of the fictional India/China/Islam alliance in some of Tom Clancy's novels, where the Islamists took point against the US, with India and China supplying "plausibly deniable" assistance. I've seen signs that the China/Islam alliance may be more than fiction. It's in China's long-term interest that we spend our military budgets chasing Osama & co rather than upgrading our abilities to fight a toe-to-toe conflict with a first-rate power (which China will be soon enough with their expanding economy)