South Asian Strategy of China and the United States

Abstract

In the 21st century, the Indian Ocean has increasingly become the vital sea area among the world’s major powers in terms of competitive influence with its superior geographical location and rich natural resources, and South Asia naturally becomes the center of geo-politics game among major powers. From a geographical point of view, South Asia has three distinguishing features. First, located in the intersection of Southeast Asia, West Asia and Central Asia, South Asia is adjacent to the western China, but the Himalayas become a barrier between South Asia and the Asian continent. The South Asian Subcontinent is also the hub connecting Europe, the Middle East, East Asia and Australia. Second, South Asia is in the center of the Indian Ocean and geographically forms a relatively independent unit, both the east and west parts are adjacent to the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, respectively. Third, India is located in the center of the South Asian Subcontinent, and other countries in South Asia including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka is either adjacent to India or separated by land or ocean, but the key is that there are not adjacent to each other. From the perspective of geopolitical value, in addition to the geographical advantages with its back against the Himalayas and with the sea on three sides, South Asia is also served as a wing of the world’s oil center the in Middle East, which not only pours into some competitive elements of the geopolitics for South Asia, but also lays a pivotal position for South Asia in the great powers’ global strategy. Among the said countries, India goes directly into the Indian Ocean for more than 1600 km. It is not only geographically located in the center of South Asia, but also accounts for 75, 63 and 78% of the entire South Asia in terms of population, area and GDP. As a result, India can be regarded as the political and security center in South Asia regardless of its size or resource advantages. In addition, as another important country in South Asia, Pakistan possesses nuclear weapons, but it can not compete with India in terms of the size and economic potential.