Towards an alternative regional bloc in South Asia
Daily News (via HT Media Ltd.)
China’s attempts to make inroads into South Asia continue.
The latest one is the establishment of the China–South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Centre in Chongqing City on Thursday.
Of the eight members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which is almost in a coma, five have joined the Beijing-led initiative.
India, Bhutan and the Maldives are conspicuous by their absence.
Diplomats and security experts say that the initiative launched by Beijing, which is a minus India alliance created when the SAARC process is stalled, is to counter India and aims to build China’s inroads into the region and that it carries a significant underlying geostrategic meaning.