China-India Strategic Competition and the Fragmentation of Asian Regionalism
Abstract
The evolving strategic rivalry between China and India has emerged as one of the most consequential dynamics shaping the future of Asian regionalism. Since the 1962 border war, their competition has transcended traditional security concerns, encompassing economic influence, infrastructure development, normative leadership, and institutional engagement. This article investigates how the China–India strategic competition has contributed to the fragmentation of Asian regionalism from the Cold War period to the contemporary Indo-Pacific era. Using a qualitative and historical-analytical approach, the study integrates primary sources, policy documents, and secondary literature to assess the patterns and consequences of their rivalry. It argues that the Sino-Indian competition has transformed from bilateral territorial disputes into a structural contest for leadership over overlapping regional architectures including ASEAN, SAARC, SCO, BRICS, and Indo-Pacific initiatives. This competition manifests in parallel institutional designs, competing connectivity projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) versus India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI), and divergent strategic alignments, all of which undermine the coherence of regional multilateralism. The study finds that the persistence of mistrust and geopolitical competition between Beijing and New Delhi has intensified institutional fragmentation, weakened collective security mechanisms, and reduced the capacity of Asian states to form unified responses to global challenges. By highlighting these trends, the article contributes to broader debates on regional order formation and offers insights into the prospects of cooperative frameworks amid rising multipolarity. It concludes that unless China and India can reconcile their strategic visions, Asian regionalism will remain fractured, limiting the continent’s ability to act as a cohesive actor in global governance.
Keywords: China–India Rivalry, Asian Regionalism, Indo-Pacific, Belt And Road Initiative, Multipolarity, Institutional Fragmentation
