India and the West are concerned about China’s growing influence in South Asia – South Asians should be, too

A new geopolitics is shaping up in South Asia: China is fast replacing India and the West, commanding greater say among small South Asian states which have felt bogged down by Indian and Western machinations.

Despite India’s opposition and warnings about debt entrapment and environmental crises, most South Asian states have joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative. However, apart from concerns about what the initiative means for the West and India, there has been little discussion of how small South Asian states will be affected by the belt and road strategy and how they will seek to influence the terms of engagement.

To be sure, the project has faced setbacks: there have been delays and concerns about financial viability and political sovereignty, and critics have argued that the whole endeavour could be a massive waste. Still, the initiative is taking shape.

The inability of the West to imagine, let alone build, such a project has allowed China an enviable entry point to shape and influence global politics. Having lost hope of reducing poverty with the Western development model, developing countries have opted to try the Chinese approach of investing in large infrastructure projects.