The book emanates from the geopolitical and geo-economic churning and transformations set in motion by the unprecedented economic rise of China resulting in its expanding political influence across the region and the world. In both the economic and the security realms, the United States and China alike are increasingly seen contesting in shaping the Indo-Pacific regional order to their own advantage.
This book unfolds the contours and dimensions of Chinäs responses to various multilateral initiatives of the US and its friends and allies like Japan, Australia, and India and, to some extent, even ASEAN. While Chinäs medium-term strategy envisages a non-hostile external environment in order to focus on domestic priorities; reducing dependence of littoral nations of the Indo-Pacific region on America while increasing their engagement and dependence on China. China's expanding reach and influence overseas has resulted in US-led initiatives being China-focused inviting a response from China where adverse reactions have become increasingly palpable.

Swaran Singh is Chairman and Professor, Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament (CIPOD), School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi), president of Association of Asia Scholars (New Delhi), Member, Governing Body, Society of Indian Ocean Studies (New Delhi). Prof. Singh has been formerly visiting professor/scholar at Australian National University (Canberra), Science Po (Bordeaux, France) University of Peace (Costa Rica), Peking, Fudan and Xiamen Universities, and Shanghai Institute of International Studies and Center for Asian Studies (Hong Kong University) in China, Asian Center (University of the Philippines), and Chuo, Hiroshima and Kyoto Universities (in Japan), as also Guest Faculty at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sweden). He was Academic Consultant (2003-2007) at Center de Sciences Humaines (New Delhi), Research Fellow, Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (New Delhi).

Prof. Singh has published in Journal of International Affairs (Columbia University), Security Challenges (Australian National University), Journal of Indian Ocean Region (Perth, Australia), Issues & Studies (Taiwan National University), African Security (Institute of Security Studies), BISS Journal (Dhaka), and several Chinese and Indian journals. Prof. Singh co-edited Multilateralism in the Indo Pacific - Conceptual and Operational Challenges (2022) , Revisiting Gandhi: Legacies for Global Peace and National Integration (2021) Corridors of Engagement (2020), Colonial Legacies And Contemporary Studies Of China And Chineseness: Unlearning Binaries (2020), BCIM Economic Corridor: Chinese and Indian Perspectives (2017), Transforming South Asia: Imperatives for Action (2013), India and the GCC Countries, Iran and Iraq: Emerging Security Perspectives (2013), On China By India: From Civilization to State (2012), Emerging China: Prospects for Partnership in Asia (2012), Asia's Multilateralism (in Chinese 2012); Edited China-Pakistan Strategic Cooperation: Indian Perspectives (2007) Co-authored Regionalism in South Asian Diplomacy (2007) and authored Nuclear Command & Control in Southern Asia: China, India, Pakistan (2010), China-India Economic Engagement: Building Mutual Confidence (2005), China-South Asia: Issues, Equations, Policies (2003).

He regularly writes for Indian and foreign media, lectures at various prestigious institutions in India and abroad, and regularly appears on radio and television discussions. Twitter: @SwaranSinghJNU

Reena Marwah is Professor at Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi.

She was an ICSSR Senior Fellow, MHRD, Government of India, affiliated with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi from June 2017 to May 2019, during which her study was on Reimagining India-Thailand Relations. She has also been on deputation as Senior Academic Consultant, ICSSR, MHRD, Govt. of India for three years (2012-2015) and continued, on behalf of ICSSR to coordinate/ lead the India-Europe Research Platform (EqUIP), comprising 10 research councils of Europe till July 2017. She is the recipient of several prestigious fellowships including the McNamara fellowship of the World Bank, 1999-2000 and the Asia fellowship of the Asian Scholarship Foundation 2002-03, during which she undertook research in Thailand and Nepal. She is also a Senior Fellow of the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSSSL). She has been a Consultant for the World Bank and UN Women. She is the founding editor of Millennial Asia,a triannual journal on Asian Studies of the Association of Asia Scholars.

During her teaching and research experience, she has worked closely with several thinktanks, international donors, embassies, ministries of the Government of India and research councils in Asia. Among her research interests are international relations issues of China, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand and India, and development issues of South and South East Asia.

In addition to several chapters and articles published in books/journals, she is author/co-author/co-editor of 16 books and monographs including Contemporary India: Economy, Society and Polity (2009, 2011), co-edited volumes including Economic and Environmental Sustainability of the Asian Region (2010), Emerging China: Prospects for partnership in Asia (2011), On China by India: From a Civilization to a Nation State; Transforming South Asia: Imperatives for Action (2014), The Global Rise of Asian Transformation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Her latest co-edited books are: China Studies in South and Southeast Asia: Pro-China, Objectivism, and Balance (2018). Revisiting Gandhi: Legacies for Global Peace and National Integration (2021), Multilateralism in the Indo Pacific: Conceptual and Operational Challenges (2022).

Her most recent authored books are Re-imagining India Thailand Relations: A multilateral and bilateral perspective (2020), China's Economic Footprint in South and Southeast Asia: A futuristic perspective (2021), and India-Vietnam Relations: Development Dynamics and Strategic Alignment (2022) published by Springer Nature.

1. Swaran Singh & Reena Marwah - Introduction chapter.- 2. Dattesh D. Parulekar- Decoding 'Sovereign networks' in the Indo-Pacific: Contesting China's 'Ascendent-Rise'.- 3. Rubina Waseem-US-China Strategic Competition: Through the matrix of Complex Interdependence.- 4. Stephen Robert Nagy - China in Japanese Perspectives of the Indo-Pacific.- 5. Don McLain Gill -  China in the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific: Motivations, Opportunities and Challenges.- 6. Claudia Astarita - European Union's Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Region.- 7. Artyom Garin - China in the Indo-Pacific Region: Australian Perspectives.- 8. Devendra Kumar Bishnoi - China's 'Community of Shared Future' narrative.- 9. Swaran Singh & Brijesh Chandra Srivastava - China's Revisionist Approach to Indo-Pacific.- 10. Mrittika Guha Sarkar- China's Regional Engagement and the Quad: Mapping Conceptual dynamics.- 11. Madhura Bane - China's Engagement with the Pacific Islands.- 12. Reena Marwah and Abhishek Verma - China's Maneuvers in South Asia.- 13. Swaran Singh & Yang Yang- Status Signalling of China and India in Multilateral East Asia Summit within the Evolving Indo-Pacific Region.