After vaxplomacy in Indian neighbourhood, China now brings in development centre

After vaccine diplomacy, China has extended its South Asian outreach by launching the China-South Asian Countries Poverty Alleviation and Cooperative Development Centre as part of efforts to challenge ‘Indian dominance’ in the region. However, India's close partners Bhutan and Maldives have stayed away from joining the Centre.

Often criticised for pushing countries into debt trap through BRI, this Centre, launched last week, aims to emerge as a ‘development partner’ for the region, ET has learnt. Besides China’s all-weather ally Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka have joined the Centre.

However, India remains top development partner for Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka and has extended grants and soft loans for various projects based on local requirements unlike the traditional Chinese model. Beijing has often been accused of dictating projects and terms and conditions for projects in foreign countries to suit its strategic or economic needs.


The idea behind setting up the China-led Centre was first shared during a virtual meeting between foreign ministers of Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in April to discuss Covid-19. China has not announced how the centre would function, its budget or how it would work with the South Asian countries and in what areas.