China’s expanding engagement has reconfigured established patterns of regional interaction that historically reflected India’s predominant influence, without necessarily constituting a formalised structure of hierarchical control. This research paper analyses China’s increasing influence in Nepal and Bhutan via economic engagement, infrastructural diplomacy, political alignment, and territorial assertiveness, evaluating its consequences for India’s national security and regional status. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), more cooperation on security issues, and more diplomatic activity in Nepal have made Kathmandu less dependent on New Delhi. This has made it easier for Beijing to strengthen its political and strategic ties. China’s claim to territory in Bhutan, especially over Doklam and Sakteng, as well as its 2021 three-step plan to resolve the border issue, show that China is trying to weaken India’s power and shift the balance of power in the Himalayas. Through qualitative analysis of policy documents and scholarly literature, the study illustrates how Nepal and Bhutan are utilising a hedging strategy to enhance their autonomy amid the intensifying Sino-Indian rivalry. Instead of implying a total erosion of India’s standing, the study contends that the expansion of Chinese engagement has diminished the exclusivity of India’s influence while simultaneously introducing heightened strategic complexity into the management of frontier regions. It ends by outlining policy options for India to rebuild confidence, boost connectivity, and engage in proactive diplomacy to keep its strategic power in the Himalayan area.
The 2016 arbitral ruling on the South China Sea in favour of the Philippines continues to shape maritime governance and strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific.
The Communist Party of China (CPC), under the leadership of Xi Jinping, has been strengthening its ideological framework to increase its capacity for governance. This is crucial to the party system, as it increasingly believes it needs to respond to changes in the global order. Through ideological correction, in the form of Xi Jinping Thought, the party leadership believes it can better navigate a world in transition and emerge victorious. In other words, as the leadership theorises about the global order, elite politics under Xi Jinping is transforming. Xi is strengthening governance within both the party and state to respond to the global security order. This impacts elite politics as it navigates the changes within the Chinese political system.
The monograph aims to bring Chinese perspectives and debates to the analyses of military reform. It explores and analyses the way China has shaped its military power, to counter challenges to the great rejuvenation, and the drivers and motivations behind the implementation of military reforms. China’s association with military power and its relation to world-class military in the New Era are driven by its worldview and security perceptions. Therefore, the monograph elucidates the political framework for military reforms as it would help identify under what circumstances that military power would be utilised. Finally, it looks at the challenges that China is facing when building its military power and the implications for India.
China is building a strategic system to integrate all its national strategies and develop strategic capabilities to accelerate its economic and security goals.
US President Donald Trump’s visit to China from 13-15 May 2026 is taking place against the backdrop of intense trade and technological competition between the two countries.
