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The “Roads” and “Belts” of Eurasia pp 103–127Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Proceed with Caution: India’s Approach to China’s One Belt One Road and Other Cooperation Ideas in the Region

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Abstract

India’s approach to the Chinese One Belt One Road (OBOR), now called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and other connectivity-related cooperation ideas in the region are not uniform despite the economic advantages some of these projects offer. India appears to view such projects to a significant extent through the prism of geostrategic and security interests. Economic considerations appear to sometimes play a secondary role. This understanding of India’s stance on such projects explains its reluctance to be part of the BRI, but supports among others the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM), International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) and the Mekong Ganga Initiative.

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Notes

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  2. 2.

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  3. 3.

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  4. 4.

    K. Yhome, “The Burma Roads: India’s Search for Connectivity Through Myanmar”, Asian Survey, 55(6), p. 1227.

  5. 5.

    K. Yhome, “The Burma Roads: India’s Search for Connectivity Through Myanmar”, Asian Survey, 55(6), p. 1222.

  6. 6.

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  34. 34.

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  37. 37.

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  38. 38.

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  39. 39.

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  40. 40.

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  41. 41.

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  42. 42.

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  43. 43.

    “IISS Fullerton Lecture—India, the United States and China”, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et2ihw8jHaY&feature=youtu.be&t=46m27s.

  44. 44.

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  45. 45.

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  46. 46.

    Rohan Venkataramakrishnan, “Is OBOR About Chinese Dominance? India Wants to Convince the World It Is”, Business Standard, May 15, 2017, http://www.business-standard.com/article/international/is-india-trying-to-convince-the-world-china-s-obor-is-secretly-colonial-117051500289_1.html.

  47. 47.

    Narendra Modi, “Inaugural Address by Prime Minister at Second Raisina Dialogue”, New Delhi, January 17, 2017, http://mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/27948/Inaugural_Address_by_Prime_Minister_at_Second_Raisina_Dialogue_New_Delhi_January_17_2017.

  48. 48.

    Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria (observer status), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey and Ukraine.

  49. 49.

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  56. 56.

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  60. 60.

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  1. Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, India

    Nandan Unnikrishnan

  2. Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod, India

    Uma Purushothaman

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  1. Nandan Unnikrishnan
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Correspondence to Nandan Unnikrishnan .

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  1. Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University), Moscow, Russia

    Alexander Lukin

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Unnikrishnan, N., Purushothaman, U. (2020). Proceed with Caution: India’s Approach to China’s One Belt One Road and Other Cooperation Ideas in the Region. In: Lukin, A. (eds) The “Roads” and “Belts” of Eurasia. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0856-1_4

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