Abstract:
This paper explores China‟s external policy toward South Asia and its implications on the regional affairs using Sino-Sri Lanka relations as a case study. During the last two decades there has been a power transition in world politics with the rise of China. The economic success of China is being converted into political and military powers projecting it as a prospective great power in the Asian region and the international scene.
China‟s rise certainly has global and regional implications for power politics and this study problematizes how Chinese resurgence affects the regional politics in South Asia which also includes the dominant presence of India. The dilemma that the small states in South Asia have faced in shifting their allegiances drives us to apply the theories of practical political cooperation in exchange for material gains. With the construction of marine power bases and expansion of trade and economic assistance, China has attracted several states in India‟s neighborhood like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The major theoretical problem of the study then becomes why states value more of the material gains from rising extra-regional powers than the existing regional balance of power in their own region. The study mainly touches the pragmatic issue of Chinese influence on South Asian states and its implications on regional politics. The study proposes an analytical and interpretative method in order to investigate the growing presence of China in South Asia and its impact on regional politics. The case of Sino-Sri Lanka relations provides an empirical basis for the study and will be looked at from a historical and analytical point of view.
