India's modern history perhaps, but Indian influence once stretched all across SE Asia. Angor Wat is the largest Hindu temple in the world[1], for example; Bali is all that remains of Hindu control of Indonesia[2]. Though it seems unlikely that the PRC government is thinking in those terms.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_Wat#History 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bali#Ancient