India and China in South Asia

The rise of China makes South Asia a region of strategic value as a platform for augmenting China’s commercial and energy links with regions beyond South Asia. China’s consequent intrusion in South Asia opens up opportunities for the smaller states to derive not only economic benefits but also political support to balance India’s perceived dominance, though the price of such friendship apparently turns out to be very high. The feeling of being encircled by China and the apprehension of being confined to a frosty neighbourhood make India adopt measures to protect and promote its interests by re-balancing China. This in turn invites countermeasures from China. The re-balancing takes essentially diplomatic, economic, military and non-military forms, which might have military security implications that become more nuanced in the era of a pandemic that originated in China and affected the world. This chapter seeks to assess and explore the forms of re-balancing China’s growing foothold in the South Asian region from an Indian standpoint.