Strategic Narrative Study of Belt and Road in Indian Mainstream Media : An Analysis Based on The Times of India

印度主流媒体对“一带一路”的策略性叙事研究—基于《印度时报》的分析

This study aims to explore the strategic narratives of India’s mainstream media regarding the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), offering valuable insights for China to better understand overseas public opinion on the BRI and contributing to the high-quality development of the initiative in the new era. Through data mining and textual analysis, the study finds that The Times of India adopts a “securitization narrative” in the political dimension, portraying the BRI as a security threat; a “skeptical narrative” in the economic dimension, questioning the intentions and benefits of cooperation; and a “manipulative narrative” in the socio-cultural dimension, aimed at shaping negative public opinion. These narrative strategies reflect India’s strategic anxiety and reactive posture in response to China’s growing influence. Based on these findings, the study proposes that China could counter such negative narrative framing through political trust-building, transparent and co-governed economic collaboration, and cognitive reshaping in the socio-cultural realm.

本研究旨在深入探讨印度主流媒体对“一带一路”的策略性叙事，有助于中国把握“一带一路”海外舆情，对新时代高质量共建“一带一路”意义重大。通过数据挖掘和文本分析，本研究发现，《印度时报》对“一带一路”在政治维度上采用“安全威胁的突出化叙事”，在经济维度上采取“合作目的与效益的质疑性叙事”，在社会文化维度上采取“舆论抹黑的引导型叙事”，表现了印度在中国影响力日益增强现实下的战略焦虑与应激。在此基础上，本研究提出中国可以通过政治层面的信任建设、经济层面的透明共治以及社会文化层面的认知重塑来突破负面叙事的话语围猎。