A new strategic belt surrounding India
Saudi Arabia – Iran – Pakistan – Nepal – Bangladesh – Myanmar – China – Russia
Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, and Russia may differ politically, economically, and ideologically, yet one strategic reality increasingly connects them: deep and growing dependence on China’s economic ecosystem. Whether through energy exports, infrastructure financing, trade routes, industrial supply chains, or Belt and Road linked investments, Beijing has gradually positioned itself as the central economic anchor across much of Eurasia and South Asia.
From Gulf energy partnerships to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor, from Chinese investments in Nepal and Bangladesh to Beijing’s expanding influence in Myanmar and its strategic coordination with Russia, the broader pattern suggests the emergence of a China centred geopolitical arc around India’s neighbourhood. This does not necessarily mean all these states are formally aligned under one bloc, but it does indicate that China now possesses unprecedented leverage across the region through trade dependence, debt exposure, infrastructure control, and market access. In many ways, Beijing is no longer merely a regional power but the economic gravity centre shaping the strategic calculations of countries surrounding India.
Expanded Version:
United States of America – Azerbaijan – Turkey – Qatar – Saudi Arabia – Iran – Pakistan – Nepal – Bangladesh – Myanmar – China – Russia – North Korea