‘India is welcome to join China-South Asia grouping’

‘India is welcome to join China-South Asia grouping’

Subject : International Relations

Context : Bangladesh Foreign Minister has stated that India is welcome to join the China-led South Asian initiative for COVID-19 vaccines and poverty alleviation and has denied the allegations that the newly launched China-South Asia grouping was meant to exclude India.

Concept :

• Subsequent to a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of China, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, China-South Asian Countries Emergency Supplies Reserve, and a Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Centre were set up in China recently.
• The poverty alleviation centre was envisioned to deal with economic issues arising in South Asia due to COVID.
• The China-South Asia centre is also being established in the Southern Chinese city of Chongqing.

Concerns for India:

• The development had raised concerns in India as the initiative appeared to leave out only India, Bhutan and the Maldives.
• Some experts have warned that the new initiative could be aimed at diluting India’s role in the SAARC region by increasing China’s strategic influence in the South Asian region through developmental aid.