Regional strategic dynamics in South Asia is in a state of flux since the announcement of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). China emphasises on the economic aspect of investment in infrastructures and energy projects, but strategic underpinning are very much apparent. China loan has created indebtedness in these countries and has helped Beijing to gain strategic foothold in the region which India considers as core to its security. India’s aid programme though focuses on the neighbourhood, it remains small compared to China and suffers from delivery deficit.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s case on the Sino–Indian boundary question has not received the sort of attention it deserves with the result very little is known about it. While India appears to have inherited its northern frontier from the British with some ambiguities, Manchu China’s territorial bequest to the Republic of China (RoC), in comparison, is more straightforward. Both foreign and Indian writers have subjected the Indian case to rigorous scrutiny. However, the PRC’s case has, thus far, escaped similar scrutiny.

China’s Contingencies and Globalisation was initially published as a special issue of the Third World Quarterly and consisted of papers presented at the Seventh Annual Global Studies Conference at Shanghai University, in June 2015. The current volume has three sections. The first four chapters of the book focus on impact of globalisation on China; the second section consisting of three chapters examines the economic transformation of China after the opening up; while the last four papers concentrate on the broader themes of the changing society, religion and culture in China.

The Narendra Modi government after coming to power in May 2014 initiated the ‘Act East’ policy to further enhance New Delhi’s engagement with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. However, India’s engagement with the two Koreas has not seen any significant improvement under the Modi government. North Korea’s isolationist policies and its involvement with India’s neighbouring countries with regard to the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies have proved detrimental for relations between New Delhi and Pyongyang.