Apropos 'China has deeper pockets than India', carried by Business Recorder on Saturday, it is interesting to note that India has pledged a slew of regional investments at the recently concluded SAARC summit, seeking to counter China's growing economic inroads into its backyard as it remains embroiled bitter rivalry with Pakistan.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has said South Asia's largest economy would fund regional infrastructure, health facilities and even a communications satellite, and promised to free up its markets to exporters in smaller countries in the region.
Modi has made it clear that boosting India's influence in its immediate neighbourhood is a key strategic priority for his Hindu nationalist government. That India has been successfully blocking China's efforts aimed at getting full membership of the eight-member association of South Asian countries is a fact that has found its best expression in Modi's game-plan to counter Beijing's growing influence in the region. Unfortunately, however, Modi seems to have lost sight of the fact that 'China has deeper pockets than India'. China's plan to become a regional hegemony, not another superpower, and indirectly create problems for the US in the latter's backyard seems to be working well.
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