title: China's Public Diplomacy and Its Foreign Policy Towards Central and South Asia
abstract: This chapter analyses how China has promoted its interests under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) using a set of strategic tools, which we define as enmeshment and appeasement. More specifically, the analysis considers the dynamics characterizing China’s BRI in Central and South Asia, in order to outline patterns of engagement along the route. The chapter uses the case study of Russia and India, which represent key actors for the BRI, owing to the competition over power and influence in which 