Abstract
Since its official launching in 2013, China’s transcontinental Belt and
Road Initiative (BRI) has remained under significant focus in media,
policy think-tanks and academia around the world. While some countries
view China as a major development partner under the BRI, others are
apprehensive of the rising role of Beijing. Drawing on policy documents,
reports of national and international organizations and available
literature on the subject, this paper aims at unpacking two main aspects
of the BRI; the socio-economic prospects as well as geopolitical
implications of the BRI for major South Asian countries where China is
emerging as an important development actor. Second, response of the
major global powers and actors in Europe, Africa and Central Asia, such
as, key South Asian countries Pakistan and India. Their key expectations
as well as reservations are also of major concern. The paper argues that
unprecedented Chinese investment under the BRI in these regions has not
only huge socio-economic potentials but it also has geopolitical and
security implications (as in the case of Pakistan-India relations in South
Asia). The paper concludes that for harvesting true potential of the BRI
through new vistas of trade and connectivity for participating nations,
China should work more closely with countries having antagonistic
stance towards the BRI and should take measures to ensure international
norms and inclusiveness of the initiative.
Murad Ali. (2020) China’s Belt and Road Initiative in South Asia and beyond: Apprehensions, Risks and Opportunities , IPRI Journal, Volume-20, Issue-1.
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