New Delhi, June 23 -- South Asia has long been viewed through a narrow lens of poverty, political instability and the ongoing rivalry of India and Pakistan. That perception is quickly changing today.

The region is being dragged into a much larger geopolitical earthquake. Strategic Indian Ocean ports, infrastructure investments, and growing military ties are helping to shape South Asia as an important area of competition between the United States and China.

The rivalry is much more than a trade dispute or military posturing in East Asia. It is increasingly influencing development priorities, choices in foreign policy and economic dependencies across the region. This makes South Asia a vital testing ground for a new global order in which ...