China’s “Dangerous Double Game”: A Warning for India as Beijing Repeats Its Pakistan Strategy in Bangladesh
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China’s geopolitical maneuvers in South Asia have once again triggered alarm in India’s strategic community. According to a recent headline, Beijing appears to be repeating its “double-game” playbook in Bangladesh that it previously employed in Pakistan—raising red flags in New Delhi about repeated patterns of strategic encirclement.
In Pakistan, China executed decades of deep diplomatic, economic, and military engagement under the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship initiative of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). CPEC provided Pakistan with massive infrastructure investments—but at the cost of high debt and rising Chinese influence in key strategic areas including Gwadar port and energy corridors.
Now, India seems to perceive a similar play unfolding in neighboring Bangladesh. Reports suggest that China is leveraging substantial economic aid, infrastructure loans, and strategic deals—potentially securing influence over critical projects, ports, and military arrangements. Such moves echo the “String of Pearls” strategy, a U.S. term describing Beijing’s growing web of Chinese facilities across the Indian Ocean, encircling India through port access and military projection.
India’s defense leadership has taken note. As recently as July 2025, India’s Chief of Defence Staff warned that a growing strategic alignment among China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh “may have implications on India’s stability.”
These regional dynamics place pressure on India’s traditional sphere of influence and challenge long-standing norms of South Asian geopolitics. If unchecked, this “double-play” by Beijing risks creating a new strategic triangle that squeezes India from multiple sides. In response, India may need to strengthen its own regional outreach and reinforce alliances across the subcontinent to counterbalance China’s expanding footprint.
