Space Security Trilemma in South Asia

ABSTRACT The peculiar nature of bilateral relations between the United States and China in space is the triggering point of a space security trilemma in South Asia. The spill-over effect of a misperception-misunderstanding dynamic between the United States and China in outer space has brought strategic transformation between the bilateral relations among India-China, India-Pakistan, and China-Pakistan, accentuating a security trilemma. All three states give high importance to their national space programs to achieve socioeconomic goals and to fulfill their national security needs. All three states also recognize the strategic importance of space as a new arena of war. However, the power asymmetry in South Asia has highlighted space-related capabilities as a potent medium of progress and power accumulation. As a result, the challenges in space have triggered and magnified the security trilemma for the South Asian rivals, interconnecting China, India, and Pakistan in the context of an international security complex.