A deeper look into the bilateral relationships in this strategic triangle would reveal how the dynamics of political interactions has evolved through particular phases of highs and lows in the history of relations between the nations. This essay begins with a brief analysis of the study of triangles in international relations followed by the course of evolution of the bilateral relationships into a strategic triangle. The essay also attempts to analyse if there is a possibility of a change in the position of the three major powers in the strategic triangle. According to Henry Kissinger, the most advantageous position in the strategic triangle is the ‘pivot’ role which maintains amity with the other two players (the wings) while pitting them against each other (Wu, 1996: 26-52). In this case-study, the US skilfully maintains the ‘pivot’ position keeping a delicate balance between its relations with the two wings, India and China and deriving maximum benefits as the latter two engage in a rivalry to outbid each other. It may be that the US becomes too complacent regarding relations with both India and China. In order to resist US supremacy, India and China make a formal alliance which is unrealistic in the current international political climate. Tension has slowly been building up between the two Asian giants after the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama went ahead with plans to visit a heavily militarized Tibetan Buddhist area in northeast India in November 2009. The academic and media commentators have been further inciting the divergence of opinions. "Is China itching to wage war on India?" was an immediate response of Professor Brahma Chellaney of the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, India (Chellaney, 2009). Reports have also appeared in Chinese state media alleging that India was moving troops and fighter aircraft to the northeast, specifically into Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Close to 400 incidents of border intrusion have occurred in the last three years, according to the Indian Defence Yearbook published in February 2009 with over 140 in 2007 and many more in 2008 (Arora, 2009). Is there a possibility of both India and China competing against each other to improve their respective strategic positions and grab the ‘pivot’ position in the strategic triangle? The course of evolution of the triangular relationship involving India, China and the United States of America has a significant impact on the current global configuration of power and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future. The study of triangles in International Relations The metaphor of a triangle has become increasingly popular in the historical-analytical studies of the big-power relations (Zha, 2001: 117). A triangle views the evolution of relations among three nation-states as an inseparable whole. It implies that one of the three actors adopts a particular foreign policy decision toward a second actor either as a result of or as an effect of managing its relations with the third actor. During the Cold War, relations among the United States, the Soviet Union, and China were considered to form a “Great 77