Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Anita Sengupta -- China, India and the aporia of neighbourhood / Samir Kumar Das -- Bootlegging in South Asia's neighbourhood : Eastern Himalayas, disgruntled geographies, and 'Chinese goods' / Anup Shekhar Chakraborty -- Dance of the dragons : Bhutan-China relationship / Jigme Yeshe Lama -- Comrades in arms? Decoding China's Taliban gamble / Raghav Sharma -- Connectivity, capital, and culture : China in Pakistan / Priya Singh -- China in Bangladesh : the evolving relationship / Sriparna Pathak -- The manifold aspects of Chinese presence in Iran / Bahram Amirahmadian -- Prospects of continuity and change of China's role in central Asia : case studies of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan / Yunus Emre Gurbuz, Mehmet Yahya Çicrkli and Maksat Ajkan Uulu -- The ethnic dynamics in Myanmar China strategic interests : implications for the region / Soma Ghosal -- Security narratives of China's impingement in the Indian Ocean theatre / Anindya Jyoti Majumdar -- India China rivalry in Sri Lanka : a nexus of historical narratives and political economy / Shiran Illanperuma and Sumanasiri Liyanage -- The impacts of Chinese economic policies on Myanmar / San San Khine -- The collapse of China's cooperation with Central and East Europe / Emilian Kavalski -- Conclusion / Priya Singh.

"This book explores the scope and extent of the growing Chinese influence in India's neighbourhood and its impact on India as well as on Asian power politics. Through theoretical narratives and detailed case studies, it examines Chinese bilateral relationships in the Indian neighbourhood and looks at the extent and significance of Chinese influence through the lens of strategic, economic and infrastructural arrangements and Chinese interventions in South, Southeast and Central Asia. The book takes into account regional voices and domestic political compulsions in understanding what they make of the Chinese narrative and examines how and whether the narrative has changed in recent years through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as an instrument of Chinese public diplomacy. The volume also discusses how domestic narratives and compulsions in the Indian neighbourhood remain significant and how these, in turn, would impact the trajectory of Chinese public diplomacy. Intertwined through all these themes is a focus on the extent to which these could become potential flashpoints for India. This book will be a useful resource for academics and researchers working on Asian geopolitics and geo-economics, Chinese foreign policy, Chinese politics, international relations of Asia, Asian dynamics and Asian studies"--