ABSTRACT
This chapter surveys different India–China modes of interaction in South Asia and the Bay of Bengal region, with examples from Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Unlike Pakistan, these smaller countries have traditionally been placed under India's sphere of influence, but this is rapidly changing as China expands its political, economic, and security presence in the region. Refuting the widely popular and linear reading of Sino-Indian relations in this region—allegedly from a dynamic of friendship and cooperation in the 1950s to today's inevitable competition and future conflict—this chapter explores a more diverse range of interactions. With reference to both historical and contemporary case studies, this chapter examines four modes of Sino-Indian interaction in South Asia: cooperation, coexistence, competition, and conflict. This offers a more nuanced and broader perspective on how India–China relations have played out across India's neighborhood until today, and how they are likely to evolve in the future.
