China is excluding India from its South Asia outreach. New Delhi’s being framed as volatile |
Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit
ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures
Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story
More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice
Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit
ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures
Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story
More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice
China is excluding India from its South Asia outreach. New Delhi’s being framed as volatile
To Chinese commentators, India has unresolved colonial-era borders, a rigid territorial outlook, pressures from smaller neighbours, and persistent security anxieties.
The Asian Department at China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on 10 March that trade between China and South Asian countries had surpassed $ 200 billion for the first time, marking a 10.7 per cent year-on-year increase.
The department’s director, Wang Liping, presented this milestone as evidence of the resilience and growing dynamism of regional economic cooperation. The announcement coincided with the 10th China–South Asia Expo and the 30th China Kunming Import and Export Fair, two flagship platforms advancing China’s economic outreach in the region.
It is noteworthy that India was conspicuously absent from the meetings and official references. Excluding a country that accounts for over 60 per cent of total China–South Asia trade can’t be incidental. Rather, it reflects a deeper and more consistent pattern in China’s regional framing, one that separates India’s economic and strategic weight from its narrative presence.
A South Asia without India?
Chinese academic discourse offers further insight into this positioning. Lin Minwang, vice dean at Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, described India as a “complex and volatile” South Asian power. Even though the volatility is attributed to the region rather than India itself, such characterisations help justify China’s push for alternative regional frameworks that proceed without........