Why look at the regions?

The topic India and China in Regional Politics will focus on the following dyadic relations - India & East Asia; India and African Union; India and European Union, and India & Latin America, and China & East Asia; China and African Union; China and European Union, and China & Latin America. We will also look at Central Asia together. This topic will take 2 Weeks, at least. A final look can also be done at South Asia.

This behooves a few questions - 

1. How do we conceptualise the regions? Do these two countries perceive and approach these regions in a similar manner? 
2. Why should we look at how India and China engage with different regions?
3. What agency do these regions have in their relationship with these two countries? How do each of these regions engage with India and China? What are their drivers of such engagements?
4. What is the nature of relationship between India and China in each of these regions? 

The primary region why we look at regions is that they can serve as a way to utilise the geographical reference in-built in them as a way to assess the larger geo-political role they play in world politics. For example, India has access to the oceans through a long coastal line and benefits from its ability to sit at a pivotal junction astride the major sea lanes of communication and lack an immediate geographical power which can challenge it directly. On the other hand, China which relies immensely on the Eastern seaboard is handicapped by the fact that it is hemmed in geographically by multiple East Asian neighbours and therefore its moves with regard to controlling the islands in the South China Sea have raised severe concerns among these countries. 

Another reason why we look at the different regions is that they are characterised by similarities and deeper connections among the countries in that region due to opportunities that rise from relatively shorter distances between countries and also historical developments which leave behind ethnic, cultural and economic ties. These connections are often the focus of building regional organisations among which the European Union stands out an exemplar (despite the obvious challenges posed by Brexit). If we look at the literature on regional organisations and regional integration EU stands out as the model which could be emulated by aspiring regional organisations. A major reason why EU is also seen as a model is that it has been formed by overcoming the deep animosities among France, Germany and the United Kingdom which had in the past engaged in two World Wars. The other reason is that they have served as a functional template that other countries could follow in their efforts at regional integration. The EU's success has also set it up as a benchmark against which other efforts are judged. Such a perspective informs the assessment of anyone who has found the SAARC to be a failure.

Thus we see that China, not so surprisingly, views its immediate East Asian neighbourhood with critical importance, while India views its South Asian neighbourhood as a central concern. This is then reflected in its interactions with different regions which can be viewed at different levels of importance by India and China. Until recently, the United States was India's top trading partner, it has been replaced by China in 2017, placing a significant importance on India-US relations, which of course goes beyond this economic dimension. 

STUDENT QUESTIONS

RAGHAV

Why is a East Asian region wary of India? 

ASEAN in Indo-Pacific vis-a-vis Asia-Pacific?

Material versus non-material support?

VINEET

How important are cultural relations? Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. 

NAM and the internal fissures

GOPI

How is regionalism, region, regionalisation defined? 

How close is ASEAN and Indo-Pacific? 

Regionalist Asia versus Exceptionalist Asia

AKHIL

What was there before Look East policy between 1950 to 1994? What is the importance of the Spratly Islands in China's calculus? Akhil - respond with Island Chains