XI Jinping's authoritarianism, Chinese foreign policy and India

China's President Xi Jinping has placed great emphasis on power consolidation, focusing on domestic restructuring to enhance the centrality of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its communist ideology. This has compelled political pundits to mull over the bearing of a strong authoritarian Chinese regime on Xi Jinping's foreign policy. China is already casting strong regional maritime advances and leveraging its economic might over its continental periphery. In this regard, tensions are rising in the Indo-Pacific region with countries like India and Japan coalescing to negate China's assertiveness. Nonetheless, the new security architecture of Asia demands balanced strategic manoeuvring, exemplified by China and India pushing their bilateral ties forward while striking new deals with other like-minded countries.