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Article
China in South Asia: A Strategy of ‘Strings of Pearls’?
Author(s)
Mohammad Razaul Karim
Full-Text PDF XML 792 Views
DOI:10.17265/2328-2134/2020.11.003
Affiliation(s)
Comilla University, Cumilla, Bangladesh
ABSTRACT
China’s growing
engagement in various sectors in South Asia poses challenges to India’s regional
dominant position. China
has started billions of dollars investment for infrastructure development, especially
in those states who are part of its Belt and Road initiatives (BRI). Indian scholars consider Beijing’s Indian Ocean
centric investment including sea port expansion as a policy of controlling India
by creating ‘string of pearls,’ those small countries as a vital ‘pearl’ in this
‘string’. On the contrary, China
claims that it is not anything concerning security in South Asia; rather, she looks
for economic gain as well as a win-win situation for all. Except for India,
all countries of this region have already welcomed their participation in the BRI.
In order to illustrate the opposite perceptions of
India and China, the paper aims to explore either China’s investment in the South
Asian region is for its strategic gain or more economic expansions. I argue that
China’s growing influence in South Asia should not
be considered as a strategy of ‘encirclement’ against India. Nevertheless, the article
concludes here if New Delhi and Beijing is looking forward to making a success of
BRI, it certainly will bring crucial geopolitical and economic gain.
KEYWORDS
Strings of Pearls, Belt and Road Initiative, Ports policy, Indian Ocean, India, China
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