Abstract
BRI has become the center of China’s foreign and economic policy. But it faces problems over its magnitude, mismanagement, and excessive indebtedness that the recipient countries confront. We focus here mainly on the Asian dimension. India has hitherto taken the position that since in a major BRI project, i.e. the centerpiece of the ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’ (CPEC), the Gwadar-Karakoram logistics artery, traverses ‘Pakistan Occupied Kashmir’ (POK) just before entering Xinjiang; this India is India’s sovereign territory, and it cannot associate itself with BRI. Notwithstanding this opposition to China-Pakistan projects traversing POK, India’s hopes for Chabahar port investments in Iran can be valorized only via China built rail and road links into Central Asia. Incipient India-China cooperation in Afghanistan might give a platform for an Indian reassessment, as does a mutual economic need, China for the massive Indian market, and India for Chinese investments. But this has not happened so far. Elsewhere, examined briefly in this essay, BRI projects are a mixed bag, with some successes, many under execution, and a series of question marks. The European Union, and the US have voiced criticism, while Japan has partly shifted its position to one of support, with hopes for Japanese companies participating in some of these projects. Overall, BRI is a work-in-progress, amidst a welter of confusing reports and comments from the 70+ countries that are formal participants and others. At the same time, it has the potential to radically alter China’s global linkages, and the world power matrix.
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Notes
- 1.
Information from a private conversation with an Iranian personality.
- 2.
The Economist, 3 November 2018.
- 3.
Considering that neither China nor India have a role in working out those standards, it is disingenuous of the West to expect compliance from them.
- 4.
According to a report in Nikkei Asian Review, 5 September 2018, China has 10 million workers in Africa.
- 5.
In 2013 the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) created its ‘Development Partnership Administration’, presaging China’s action, but the comparison ends there. MEA’s action was delayed by two years as the Finance Ministry would not sanction additional posts for this unit until it carried out internal adjustment to set up this agency. All such government actions remain a problem in India. See Rana (2018).
- 6.
These ‘Leading Small Groups’ (LSGs) are secretive apex level supervision and decision-making entities. They are not officially listed, and their membership is known only through infrequent references in official Chinese media. President Xi heads the LSGs, including those covering foreign affairs, and national security. Members of the Politburo Standing Committee perhaps head others.
- 7.
This project figured in the Manmohan Singh–Li Keqiang Joint Statement of May 2013, as an ‘in principle’ acceptance of the proposal. It also figured in PM Modi’s statements during his 2015 visit to China.
The idea of a BCIM Economic Corridor.
- 8.
Business Standard, 5 March 2019.
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Rana, K.S. (2020). Conclusion: An Indian Perspective on the Belt and Road Initiative. In: Kim, YC. (eds) China-India Relations. Understanding China. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44425-9_11
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