CHINA-INDIA’S CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN THE REGION OF SOUTH ASIA

Abstract

Abstact. The trends of the growing confrontation of international relations and the increasing role of Asian countries in world politics directly affect the issue of China-India interaction in the strategically important region of South Asia. It is clear that the role of the region for each of the sides has a different weight: if India considers leadership in South Asia as a key geopolitical goal, for the PRC it is only one element of the global expansion strategy. Both states are trying to consolidate their influence in the region through various kinds of collaboration and assistance, using bilateral and multilateral formats of cooperation. In particular, at the level of competition of geoeconomic initiatives, China is actively promoting the “One Belt, One Road” project, while India seeks to balance using a wider range of integration tools – SAARC, “NorthSouth”, “Spice Route” and “Look East” policy. However, the Chinese side is achieving success due to great financial opportunities and promises, the needs of the countries of the region for external impulses for economic development, the lack of determination in Indian regional politicy, and the rejection by South Asian countries the prospect of Indian domination, key reason of what is various kinds of problems in relations with official New-Delhi. This concerns primarily Pakistan, which at the same time is a key regional partner of China. Now the regional policy of India has a clear advantage over the Chinese strategy of "geopolitical ticks" only in Bhutan and tactically in the Maldives. However, Chinese influence is increasingly causing concern among the regional given the growth of financial dependence, the use of so-called “debt-trap diplomacy” and even a demonstration of strength, the most colorful evidence of what is the experience of Sri Lanka. Keywords: India, China, South Asia, region, “One Belt, One Road”, strategy of
“geopolitical clutches”