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Аннотация
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As an academic and political vision, South Asia as a distinct conceptual construct acquired currency only
after the decolonization of British India in 1947. In the geopolitical sense, it was in the context of the Cold War
that South Asia came to figure in the overall matrix of the strategic deliberations of our times. Significantly, the
birth of South Asia was primarily driven by external factors rather than developments from within the region.
For a long time, South Asia remained synonym for India-Pakistan rivalry and the issues emerging from it. However, in recent years various developments at the global, regional and national levels have sparked a change in
the South Asian geopolitical landscape. Nothing has had a more profound impact on South Asia than the rise
of an increasingly aggressive China. Undoubtedly, this has serious implications for India. Consequently, India
has sought to reorient its priorities and relationships and, in the process, has awakened to the realization of the
importance of establishing its own footprint in the larger subcontinent. In the changed eco-system of the subcontinent, India-China rivalry has come to overlie traditional bilateral conflicts between India and its neighbours. As a result, new forms of regional and sub-regional initiatives, — bilateral formats, trilateral and quadrilateral formats of engagements— have become a reality. The geopolitical restructuring of South Asia presents
both opportunities and challenges for the countries in the region. The paper will highlight some of the recent
geo-political developments in the South Asian strategic landscape and India’s response to it.
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