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Will India trust China's sudden warmth or repose faith in shifty Trump?

Alliances and rivalries are reshuffling as Asian countries try to make sense of the Trump administration's belligerent and erratic foreign policy

Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks toward US President Donald Trump as he speaks in the Rose Garden at the White House
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks toward US President Donald Trump as he speaks in the Rose Garden at the White House. Photo: AP/PTI

Conn Hallinan | FPIF
“Boxing the compass” is an old nautical term for locating the points on a magnetic compass in order to set a course. With the erratic winds blowing out of Washington these days, countries all over Asia and the Middle East are boxing the compass and re-evaluating traditional foes and old alliances.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars in the past half-century, and both have nuclear weapons on a hair trigger. But the two countries are now part of a security and trade organization, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), along with China, Russia, and most of the countries of Central