Why do you think India had more influence on Southeast Asia than China did?

Answer 1

To answer your question, you need to look back around 2-2.5 millenia, when India was considered to be by most the epicentre od culture learning and science. The thing is, during this time, the most powerful countries sent their students and scholars to india, to leanr her ways and her philosophies , most probably at an ancient world university called nalanda. So when they went back to their respective countries(kingdoms) they had a mindset that was purely "indian" if you say, woth indian beliefs and sysytem of doing things, they inturn interred their interpretation of the indian systems into their cultures and ethics. That along with the high reputation of people educated in india, in not only the business aspects of ones knowledge but also the spiritual aspects must have had a considerable effect in altering peoples perspectives.

Also the fact that almost every south east asian

Nation practices a variety of Buddhism. Its predicatable , that india would have a considerable effect on these nations, that coupled with the massive indian trade missions and whatnot, helped spread indian culture and certain aspects of her divers ways of life to the adjoining sister nations