In the context of the common rise of China and India, the geopolitical competition between China and India is increasingly fierce with the promotion of China's "westward opening" and the Belt and Road initiative. The deconstruction of India's geo-setting is helpful for China to identify geo-risks and formulate effective geo-strategies. This paper deconstructs the Geo-Setting of India on different scales (including global, regional, and national scales) from three aspects: geographical environment, geopolitical imagination, and geo-relation. It also demonstrates how India, based on its geographical environment, formulates and implements its geopolitical strategy. (1) On the global scale, with its geographical advantages in the Indian Ocean, India has built a global geo-strategy based on the Indian Ocean and pursued its status as a great power. (2) On the regional scale, India, relying on its geographical structure, size, power, and influence in South Asia, has built a regional strategy of giving priority to its neighbors and preventing interference by non-regional powers, so as to seek leadership in South Asia. (3) on the national scale, India's national power is divided by its internal diversity (including the caste system, religious contradictions, regionalism, party struggle, etc.), and it is a great challenge for India to strengthen its unified national identity. According to the characteristics of India's Geo-Setting and the power comparison between China and India, from the perspective of China's national interests, in South Asia and the Indian Ocean region, China, as a weaker power, should strengthen the building of a community of interests with India, strengthen intra-regional cooperation, regional connectivity and integration, and enhance the voice and legitimacy in the region. In the border areas between China and India, China, as a stronger power, should strengthen border management and prevent interference by outside forces.
