"While Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent unofficial summit with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made global headlines, the two rival nations’ subsequent moves were arguably more telling of their strategic intent. Asia’s most populous nations are locked in an intensifying competition for South Asian influence, one where China is increasingly stealing a march in a region India has long considered its sphere of influence. Underscoring the point, a Xinhua report quoted Xi as saying that the “dragon and elephant dance is the only correct choice for China and India” and that differences should be handled in a “correct way.” Sun Shihai, a Chinese India expert, was quoted in regional media as saying that “despite the leadership summits, there’s still deep-rooted suspicion and antagonism between the two countries.” Core to that antagonism is a still festering border dispute in the Himalayan Doklam region, where the two sides engaged in a weeks-long standoff in 2017, and the long-time presence of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader Dalai Lama in India..."