China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) ‘Complications’ With India
Chinese president Xi Jinping along with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi in Beijing on Sunday will witness China’s this year most important plan, ‘Belt and Road initiative’ or ‘Yi Dai Yi Lu’.
The Belt And Road Initiative, it’s a very complicated name and thus difficult to understand. But the initiative’s agenda is quite simple to understand. Xi has planned to develop China’s economic growth and boost its trade in Asia and beyond. The plan is to build an effective infrastructure connecting the countries of the globe. It is said to be project of $900 billion.
The project includes railways in Russia, pipelines in Pakistan and bridges in Bangladesh, overall depicting China’s so called “Modern Silk Road” which is said to be a new era of globalization. This initiative of Xi has made him world biggest leader and his decision to be the biggest development in history.
What does ‘Belt’ and ‘Road’ stands for?
The Belt And Road Initiative is derived from its two main agendas, ie, ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ (the belt) and the other the ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’ (the road). For better understanding, the “road” is not actually meant to be a road; it’s a sea route to link China’s southern coast to east Africa and Mediterranean. And the belt is a series of corridors that will connect China with Europe by Central Asia and Middle East.
The project is very important for China’s development
This project is very important for China as the economy there is slowing down. Xi also believes that this initiative will help the less developed regions get developed by linking them to neighboring countries. This also will help in the export of excess cement and steels capacity by shifting the factories overseas to less developed countries.
“It’s about making China the dominant country in the region,” says Tom Miller, the author of a book called China’s Asian Dream. It is said that this plan is to make China geographically active during Trump’s US back stepping from Asia.
What is India’s response to this?
The May 14-15 summit, which is a way to extend China’s influence over the globe with his five-year tenure plan, will be attended by nearly 20 heads of state and government except India.
The reason is, a part of China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) has a part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) a 3,000km project that will connect Pakistan’s deep water port Gwadar and China’s Xinjiang. It will pass through Gilgit-Baltistan region which lies in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. And this presence of China in the disputed area which is claimed to be India’s part has raised a sovereignty point in India. It’s not just about CPEC; Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean has also created a dispute. And thus, India has officially said that it will not take any part in the OBOR summit.
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