Anita Sengupta is an area studies specialist engaged in the study of the Eurasian region. Her areas of interest include issues of identity politics, migration, gender, borders, critical geopolitics and logistics. She is a regular commentator on debates on Asian affairs. She has been Fellow, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, Senior Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, and Director, Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata.She is currently Director, Asia in Global Affairs, Kolkata.Priya Singh is Associate Director at Asia in Global Affairs, Kolkata (AGA). Priya has a PhD from the University of Calcutta. Her thesis, Jewish and Democratic: Ethnicity, Gender and the Israeli State, mapped the intersectionality of ethnicity, gender and marginality situated in a receding democratic space from a South Asian perspective. Priya is a political scientist whose research encompasses issues pertaining to nationalism/ post-nationalism, identity, state formation, ethnicity, gender,migration and marginalisation in the West and South Asian context.

• List of Figures viiList of Tables viiiList of Contributors ixAcknowledgements xvi1 Introduction 1Anita SenguptaPART ITranscendental boundaries in neighbourhoods 272 China, India, and the aporia of neighbourhood 29Samir Kumar Das3 Bootlegging in South Asia’s neighbourhood: Eastern Himalayas, disgruntled geographies, and “Chinese goods” 42Anup Shekhar Chakraborty4 Dance of the dragons: Bhutan–China relationship 63Jigme Yeshe LamaPART IIConnectivity and conundrum in the South Asian neighbourbood 815 Comrades in arms? Decoding China’s Taliban gamble 83Raghav Sharma6 Connectivity, capital, and culture: China in Pakistan 103Priya Singh7 China in Bangladesh: The evolving relationship 121Sriparna PathakPART IIIEvolving dynamics and networks in the neighbourhood 1378 The manifold aspects of Chinese presence in Iran 139Bahram Amirahmadian9 Prospects of continuity and change of China’s role in Central Asia: Case studies of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan 156Yunus Emre Gurbuz, Mehmet Yahya Çiçekli, Maksat Ajykan Uulu10 The ethnic dynamics in Myanmar-China strategic interests: Implications for the region 172Soma GhosalPART IVNegotiating narratives of maritime neighbourhoods 18911 Security narratives of China’s impingement in the Indian Ocean theatre 191Anindya Jyoti Majumdar12 India-China rivalry in Sri Lanka: A nexus of historical narratives and political economy 206Shiran Illanperuma and Sumanasiri Liyanage13 The impacts of Chinese economic policies on Myanmar 221San San KhinePART VExtended neighbourhood 23914 The collapse of China’s cooperation with Central and East Europe 241Emilian KavalskiConclusion 259Priya SinghIndex 267

Anita Sengupta is an area studies specialist engaged in the study of the Eurasian region. Her areas of interest include issues of identity politics, migration, gender, borders, critical geopolitics and logistics. She is a regular commentator on debates on Asian affairs. She has been Fellow, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, Senior Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, and Director, Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata.She is currently Director, Asia in Global Affairs, Kolkata.Priya Singh is Associate Director at Asia in Global Affairs, Kolkata (AGA). Priya has a PhD from the University of Calcutta. Her thesis, Jewish and Democratic: Ethnicity, Gender and the Israeli State, mapped the intersectionality of ethnicity, gender and marginality situated in a receding democratic space from a South Asian perspective. Priya is a political scientist whose research encompasses issues pertaining to nationalism/ post-nationalism, identity, state formation, ethnicity, gender,migration and marginalisation in the West and South Asian context.

• List of Figures viiList of Tables viiiList of Contributors ixAcknowledgements xvi1 Introduction 1Anita SenguptaPART ITranscendental boundaries in neighbourhoods 272 China, India, and the aporia of neighbourhood 29Samir Kumar Das3 Bootlegging in South Asia’s neighbourhood: Eastern Himalayas, disgruntled geographies, and “Chinese goods” 42Anup Shekhar Chakraborty4 Dance of the dragons: Bhutan–China relationship 63Jigme Yeshe LamaPART IIConnectivity and conundrum in the South Asian neighbourbood 815 Comrades in arms? Decoding China’s Taliban gamble 83Raghav Sharma6 Connectivity, capital, and culture: China in Pakistan 103Priya Singh7 China in Bangladesh: The evolving relationship 121Sriparna PathakPART IIIEvolving dynamics and networks in the neighbourhood 1378 The manifold aspects of Chinese presence in Iran 139Bahram Amirahmadian9 Prospects of continuity and change of China’s role in Central Asia: Case studies of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan 156Yunus Emre Gurbuz, Mehmet Yahya Çiçekli, Maksat Ajykan Uulu10 The ethnic dynamics in Myanmar-China strategic interests: Implications for the region 172Soma GhosalPART IVNegotiating narratives of maritime neighbourhoods 18911 Security narratives of China’s impingement in the Indian Ocean theatre 191Anindya Jyoti Majumdar12 India-China rivalry in Sri Lanka: A nexus of historical narratives and political economy 206Shiran Illanperuma and Sumanasiri Liyanage13 The impacts of Chinese economic policies on Myanmar 221San San KhinePART VExtended neighbourhood 23914 The collapse of China’s cooperation with Central and East Europe 241Emilian KavalskiConclusion 259Priya SinghIndex 267

Anita Sengupta is an area studies specialist engaged in the study of the Eurasian region. Her areas of interest include issues of identity politics, migration, gender, borders, critical geopolitics and logistics. She is a regular commentator on debates on Asian affairs. She has been Fellow, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata, Senior Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, and Director, Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata.She is currently Director, Asia in Global Affairs, Kolkata.Priya Singh is Associate Director at Asia in Global Affairs, Kolkata (AGA). Priya has a PhD from the University of Calcutta. Her thesis, Jewish and Democratic: Ethnicity, Gender and the Israeli State, mapped the intersectionality of ethnicity, gender and marginality situated in a receding democratic space from a South Asian perspective. Priya is a political scientist whose research encompasses issues pertaining to nationalism/ post-nationalism, identity, state formation, ethnicity, gender,migration and marginalisation in the West and South Asian context.

• List of Figures viiList of Tables viiiList of Contributors ixAcknowledgements xvi1 Introduction 1Anita SenguptaPART ITranscendental boundaries in neighbourhoods 272 China, India, and the aporia of neighbourhood 29Samir Kumar Das3 Bootlegging in South Asia’s neighbourhood: Eastern Himalayas, disgruntled geographies, and “Chinese goods” 42Anup Shekhar Chakraborty4 Dance of the dragons: Bhutan–China relationship 63Jigme Yeshe LamaPART IIConnectivity and conundrum in the South Asian neighbourbood 815 Comrades in arms? Decoding China’s Taliban gamble 83Raghav Sharma6 Connectivity, capital, and culture: China in Pakistan 103Priya Singh7 China in Bangladesh: The evolving relationship 121Sriparna PathakPART IIIEvolving dynamics and networks in the neighbourhood 1378 The manifold aspects of Chinese presence in Iran 139Bahram Amirahmadian9 Prospects of continuity and change of China’s role in Central Asia: Case studies of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan 156Yunus Emre Gurbuz, Mehmet Yahya Çiçekli, Maksat Ajykan Uulu10 The ethnic dynamics in Myanmar-China strategic interests: Implications for the region 172Soma GhosalPART IVNegotiating narratives of maritime neighbourhoods 18911 Security narratives of China’s impingement in the Indian Ocean theatre 191Anindya Jyoti Majumdar12 India-China rivalry in Sri Lanka: A nexus of historical narratives and political economy 206Shiran Illanperuma and Sumanasiri Liyanage13 The impacts of Chinese economic policies on Myanmar 221San San KhinePART VExtended neighbourhood 23914 The collapse of China’s cooperation with Central and East Europe 241Emilian KavalskiConclusion 259Priya SinghIndex 267