Cohort: POLS 42

Topic of the thesis: India-China space competition in South Asia: the role of space technology and space diplomacy in regional rivalry

Abstract: Ever since the border conflict that took place in 1962, the relationship between India and the People’s Republic of China has been characterized by security tensions. However, scholars have increasingly investigated how their rivalry has extended beyond bilateral military concerns and started to encompass, among other issues, competition for regional influence over South Asia, a subcontinent that both countries intend as a “shared neighbourhood”, each claiming long-standing historical and economic ties with the countries of the area. In the context of the India-China competition for influence over South Asia, this research focuses on a relatively underexplored dimension, which is the role of space technology and space diplomacy in such regional rivalry. Since the potential for the space economy at the global level is growing rapidly, both New Delhi, with the South Asia Satellite programme as a leading strategy, and Beijing, through its Belt and Road Initiative-related investments, have started leveraging the space sector as a means for deepening their influence in South Asia. At the theoretical level, the project draws from the International Relations scholarship on power transition theories applied to regional rivalries in Asia and from the existing frameworks for analysing space diplomacy. The empirical research aims instead at investigating diplomacy strategies employed by New Delhi and Beijing towards South Asian countries in the space realm by analysing national space strategies, bilateral and multilateral space agreements, industrial deals and outcomes of space bargains within international organizations. The empirical research will also incorporate interviews with government officials, diplomats, academics, researchers and practitioners active in the space sector in the countries involved. The aim of the research is at least threefold: first, to develop an empirically grounded model of India's and China's space diplomacy engagement in South Asia; second, to integrate empirical findings within the framework provided by power transition theory; and third, to demonstrate that the space sector constitutes a relevant though understudied arena in the context of the broader Sino-Indian rivalry.

Research interests: History and international relations of Asia; Space diplomacy and space security; Power transition theory

Graduated from: University of Bologna

Degrees obtained: BA in Languages, Markets and Cultures of East Asia; MA in International Relations

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