China tightening footprint around India, warns Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Air Marshal Dixit

NEW DELHI: Strategic competition in India’s neighbourhood is intensifying as China expands its footprint across South Asia and the Indian Ocean, reshaping regional dynamics through infrastructure investments, political influence and technology partnerships alongside military power, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CISC) Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit said on Wednesday. “China views India not as a partner but as a potential threat, a reality we can no longer afford to look away from,” the CISC said while addressing a seminar on “Changing Dynamics in India’s Neighbourhood” in Delhi. “We share borders with two nuclear-armed adversaries, China and Pakistan…the Indian Ocean, once a…