These investments, many of which are linked to Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative aimed at boosting regional connectivity and trade, have been seen as an attempt to encircle India by some in Modi’s administration – which has attempted to counter with its own “Neighbourhood First” policy focused on improving regional ties.

New Delhi has, among other things, committed billions of dollars to assisting Bangladesh with port and railway construction, as well as funding housing and port projects in Sri Lanka and rail-road connectivity projects in Nepal.

Yet diplomats argue India’s outreach has been flawed, with delays in implementing promised projects and New Delhi exhibiting a “big brother” attitude towards its smaller neighbours, rather than treating them as equals.

“India talks down, it doesn’t engage with neighbours,” said M. Assaduzzaman, a lawyer and political commentator in Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka.

Among the South Asian nations of concern for Modi’s administration is neighbouring Bangladesh, which reportedly sought out a loan of almost US$1 billion from Beijing recently to fund infrastructure work aimed at maintaining water levels in the Teesta River – one of more than 50 waterways that flow into the country from India.

Indian media reports, citing a letter written by Bangladesh’s Water Resources Ministry in July, did not indicate whether Dhaka’s request had been granted, but the sharing of water resources has long been an issue between Bangladesh and India – with a proposed agreement to solve the problem on hold for years because of political opposition in West Bengal, an Indian state bordering Bangladesh.

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Further fuelling concerns was a July phone call between Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan – a staunch China ally – which touched upon the disputed Kashmir region that both New Delhi and Islamabad claim ownership over.

China has also invested heavily in northern Bangladesh, near the border with India, and attempted to step up ties with the country’s navy for better access to the Bay of Bengal.

“The Indian Navy wants to build on its inherent advantage in the Indian Ocean but is aware that choking China in the Malacca Strait is neither feasible nor desirable,” said Nitin Gokhale, editor-in-chief of defence and foreign policy news website StratNewsGlobal.

“What is achievable for the Indian Navy is to raise its capabilities against the Chinese navy and enhance multinational partnerships, such as the Quad, to limit Chinese expansionism in the Indian Ocean.”

A three-day conference of Indian naval commanders last week focused on improving operations in near Andaman and Nicobar Islands and speeding up procurement of submarines and predator drones, Gokhale said.

Earlier this month, Modi held a meeting with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla to discuss China’s growing influence, according to a report in the right-wing Swarajya magazine, which is known to have close links to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Ranjit Rae, a former Indian ambassador to Nepal, said that New Delhi needed to address the reality that China is “here to stay” – though he admitted this was not a popular opinion given the current state of bilateral ties, which has seen India banning dozens of Chinese apps and reviewing agreements signed between Indian educational institutes and Chinese universities.

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It need not be this way, however. Rae said both countries could collaborate on hydropower and electricity generation projects in the region – pointing to how, in happier times, India and China had agreed to jointly train the Afghan civil service.

“The Indian foreign minister has spoken about a new equilibrium with China,” Rae said.

“Maybe once the boundary problems are resolved the rivalry between India and China could even give way to possible cooperation in sectors like hydrocarbon that has a huge potential in the region.”