Professor B.M. Jain has written a wonderfully accessible book on one of the most pressing issues of our times, the stability of the South Asia region. With skill B.M. Jain guides the reader through the emerging competition between China and the United States and the efforts of other powers to balance between them. The book offers a fascinating and penetrating assessment of the region’s strategic challenges while illuminating small but important opportunities for stability and order.

- Sten Rynning, University of Southern Denmark,

This is an essential book for anyone interested in the interplay between political and strategic dynamics in South Asia and their implications for building peace, security and stability in the region. BM Jain provides a magisterial analysis of the great power gambit in the extended South Asia by objectively analyzing their rival interests, making the study refreshingly productive and useful for scholars, academia, graduate students, and public policy leaders.

- Kevin Clements, Toda Peace Institute,

South Asia and the Indian Ocean region has long been caught in the vortex of great power rivalries. China’s `One Belt One Road’ initiative adds a whole new dimension to interstate relations in South Asia. This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the fast changing geopolitical dynamics and implications for regional and global power balance

- Mohan Malik, Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies,