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<JournalTitle>ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF SOCIAL AND STRATEGIC STUDIES</JournalTitle>
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<Volume-Issue>Volume 7 Issue 1</Volume-Issue>
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<IssueTopic>Multidisciplinary</IssueTopic>
<IssueLanguage>English</IssueLanguage>
<Season>Apr-May 2026</Season>
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<Year>2026</Year>
<Month>05</Month>
<Day>31</Day>
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<ArticleType>Strategic Studies</ArticleType>
<ArticleTitle>India__ampersandsign#39;s Response to China__ampersandsign#39;s Expanding Strategic Footprint in South and Southeast Asia</ArticleTitle>
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<ArticleLanguage>English</ArticleLanguage>
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<FirstPage>58</FirstPage>
<LastPage>80</LastPage>
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<Author>
<FirstName>Santhoshraja</FirstName>
<LastName>V</LastName>
<AuthorLanguage>English</AuthorLanguage>
<Affiliation/>
<CorrespondingAuthor>N</CorrespondingAuthor>
<ORCID/>
<FirstName>Dr Chandra Sekaran</FirstName>
<LastName>G</LastName>
<AuthorLanguage>English</AuthorLanguage>
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<DOI>10.47362/EJSSS.2026.7104</DOI>
<Abstract>The geopolitical rivalry in the Indo-Pacific region is becoming volatile. China__ampersandsignrsquo;s growing economic and military expansion in South and Southeast Asia poses strategic challenges to India__ampersandsignrsquo;s position in the region and its maritime interests. Through the BRI, Beijing has enhanced infrastructure connectivity and naval access in key locations such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Bangladesh, engendering regional debates over debt sustainability, maritime security, and strategic influence in the Indian Ocean. Because Beijing has expanded its power through the BRI by developing infrastructure projects and naval presence by building new port facilities in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and island nations posed structural challenges to India__ampersandsignrsquo;s regional position and maritime interests. This paper examines how India has responded to this evolving strategic environment and asks whether its approach reflects classical balancing behavior under realist assumptions or a broader regional order-building strategy within the Indo-Pacific security architecture. The study applies Realist theory to interpret India__ampersandsignrsquo;s power-balancing behavior in an anarchic international system and employs RSCT to situate Sino-Indian rivalry within an interconnected regional security structure. Geo-economics is treated not as a theoretical framework but as an instrument of statecraft shaping strategic competition in the region. India__ampersandsignrsquo;s response is analysed through naval modernisation, expanding maritime deployments, strengthened mini-lateral partnerships, including Quad, and the evolving scope of the Act East Policy. Rather than viewing Act East solely as a counter-China mechanism, the paper interprets it as part of India__ampersandsignrsquo;s broader ambition to emerge as a leading regional and global power through comprehensive engagement with ASEAN and the wider Indo-Pacific. Hence, the study adopts a qualitative research design based on analysis of primary policy documents, strategic assessments, and secondary academic literature to reflect a calibrated multi-alignment approach aimed at preserving strategic autonomy and shaping a rules-based regional order.</Abstract>
<AbstractLanguage>English</AbstractLanguage>
<Keywords>Indo-Pacific,India-China Relations,Realism,Regional Security Complex Theory,Geo-economics,Act East Policy,Quadrilateral Security Dialogue,Multi-Alignment Strategy</Keywords>
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<Abstract>https://ejsss.net.in/ubijournal-v1copy/journals/abstract.php?article_id=16255&title=India__ampersandsign#39;s Response to China__ampersandsign#39;s Expanding Strategic Footprint in South and Southeast Asia</Abstract>
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