Home to nearly two billion people and some of the world’s most dynamic economies, South Asia is critical to geopolitical considerations in the Indo-Pacific. South Asia’s maritime potential is of increasing importance to larger strategic constructs and has become an area of contestation between small and big powers alike. With the Belt and Road Initiative, China has gradually broadened its relationships in South Asia. But this, along with continuing acrimony on the India–China border, places Beijing in direct contest with New Delhi’s regional aspirations, expressed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘neighbourhood first’ policy.
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