It is against these touchstones of international relations that we need to gauge the contretemps we are witnessing about the ongoing multilateral naval exercises in the Bay of Bengal.

• “中印是兄弟”的口号响彻喜玛拉雅山两侧，可惜好景不长，兄弟相隙，一度反目成仇。历史上，印度是古代中国惟一与其分享“天”这一称谓的国度，唐僧西天取经的故事家喻户晓。