Replied by Dr Teshu Singh
The One Belt One Road (OBOR) entails two initiatives namely the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ and the ‘Maritime Silk Road’ together form the OBOR. During his trip to Kazakhstan, Chinese President Xi Jinping made a speech on 7 September 2013 in which he proposed to build a “Silk Road Economic Belt” and projected it as a grand project that would benefit countries along the route. Similarly, at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bali on 2 October 2013, he proposed the revival of the “Maritime Silk Road” (MSR).
The OBOR is the signature project of Xi Jinping. The twin objective of the OBOR is to improve the connectivity of the lesser developed region of China with the mainland and to increase China’s influence globally. It is an important instrument to realise the ‘Chinese Dream’. After the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, OBOR was formally written into the Party Constitution signifying its importance for the communist party’s political and economic plan. The OBOR comprises of six economic corridors:
- China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor
- New Eurasian Land-Bridge Economic Corridor
- China–Central Asia–West Asia Economic Corridor
- China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
- Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor
- China–Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor
The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one of the corridors of the OBOR. The CPEC is the flagship project of OBOR that passes through this Pakistan occupied Kashmir (POK). The 3000 km CPEC route aims to connect Kashgar in Xinjiang region to Gwadar port in Pakistan. China is building transport and energy corridor linking Pakistan and China. This project will give China access to the Arabian Sea that is facing India’s west coast. Evidently, the OBOR is important because it allows China to maintain its presence in the POK near India.
The merit and demerit of the initiative are subjective. From an Indian perspective, the project lacks transparency, they are unilateral with no consultations, it violates Indian territorial integrity, the financial feasibility of the initiative is also questionable as it has already shown the signs of ‘debt trap’ in many of the host country. The initiative looks forward to a connected world with a caveat that it will be a China-centric world.
Much has been written and discussed on this subject. Pl find some suggested readings below;
- http://english.www.gov.cn/beltAndRoad/
- https://en.ndrc.gov.cn/newsrelease_8232/201503/t20150330_1193900.html
- http://cpecinfo.com/
- http://cpec.gov.pk/
- https://thewire.in/external-affairs/the-unprecedented-promises-and-threats-of-the-belt-and-road-initiative
- https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/china/2019-05-22/demystifying-belt-and-road
- https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/examining-debt-implications-belt-and-road-initiative-policy-perspective.pdf