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OBOR Initiative "EMPOWER IAS"

 

Context:

  • India not want to be part of China’s OBOR Initiative.  

 

China’s One Belt One Road(OBOR) initiative:

 

  • China’s One Belt One Road(OBOR) initiative was announced in 2013 which focuses on improving connectivity and cooperation among Asian countries, Africa, China and Europe. The project has been launched in various countries like Tajikistan, Thailand, Kenya and Vietnam financed by Chinese loans.
  • The project has ​​​​​​​two components:
  1. Silk Road Economic Belt: It is land-based and is expected to connect China with Central Asia, Eastern Europe and Western Europe.
  2. 21st Century Maritime Silk Road: It is sea-based and is expected to connect China’s southern coast to the Mediterranean, Africa, South-East Asia and Central Asia.

 

Why is India opposed to OBOR?

  • India has stayed away from the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) summit, citing sovereignty, procedural and leadership issues.
  • The main point of contention for India is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC, which is also part of OBOR.
  • CPEC is a project connecting Pakistan’s deep-water port Gwadar and China’s Xinjiang.  CPEC can aid Pakistan’s legitimacy in the Kashmir dispute.
  • If CPEC project gets implemented successfully, this would hamper India’s strategic interests in the South Asian region. It will serve Beijing's strategic ambition to encircle India.
  • CPEC project’s lack of transparency and accountability is a cause of concern, as it may be skewed in favour of China economically and strategically.
  • China is building roads and infrastructure in the disputed territory of Gilgit-Balistan, which is under Pakistan’s control but which India claims as a part of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • China’s increasing footprints in the South Asian region is detrimental to India’s strategic hold e.g. construction of the Hambantota Port in Sri Lanka provided China critical strategic location in Indian Ocean
  • Getting on board OBOR or talking to China and Pakistan about CPEC would be problematic for India as it could be seen as conceding ground to Pakistan. It would also involve a third country which goes against India’s stand.
  • Implementation of this project will take many years to complete and also carries risks of failure.
  • The political tension in Afghanistan also may severely impede the benefits of transit corridors in South Asia.
  • The project has challenged India on two fronts: -
  1. large Chinese investments announced for Pakistan
  2. increasing strategic and economic presence in the Indian Ocean.
  • This includes Chinese money being pumped into port projects in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
  • China may use its economic power to increase its geopolitical leverage and, in doing so, intensify security concerns for India.
  • China is investing a huge amount of money in India’s immediate neighbourhood and these countries tend to use the China card against India.
  • China is countering India’s strategies in North East region by promoting a greater presence in these regions, part of which (Arunachal Pradesh) has been claimed by China as its own territory. This may have security implications for India.

 

Why should India join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)?

Despite above reasons India should join OBOR because of the following reasons:

 

Economic benefits:

  • It will provide many economic benefits such as a boost to trade, investment, and business engagement.
  •  It will provide direct access to Central Asia and Afghanistan.

 

Improve Indo-China ties:

  • BRI will increase cooperation between India and China at several global fronts.

 

Security:

  •  Development of Gilgit-Baltistan region through BRI would help reduce security threats in the region. Isolation of India: All neighboring nations except Bhutan and several other countries from Central Asia and South-East Asia have joined BRI. Therefore, not joining BRI may result in the isolation of India. Geopolitical benefits: Several geopolitical issues and differences can be addressed by means of economic integration.

 

What are the major concerns that India has with China?

 

 Boarder issue:

  •  the two main unresolved issues remain Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Indian side claims Arunachal Pradesh to territorially be an integral part of India, China refers to it as South Tibet, mainly because of its Tibetan Buddhist affiliations.

 

String of pearls

  • One of India’s growing concerns in the last decade or so is China’s ever-expanding sphere of geopolitical influence in the Indian Ocean.

 

 Water dispute:

  • The Brahmaputra, which originates as Tsangpo in Tibet, is one of the major water resources in India’s north-east, especially as a source for irrigation and industry.

 

Trade imbalance

  • Trade relations between India and China formally resumed in 1978. Six years later, the two countries signed the most favoured nation (MFN) agreement. China is India’s largest trade partner today, concerns about trade imbalance between the two countries remain, with the imbalance skewed in China’s favour.

 

Tibet

  • At the very heart of India’s relations with China is the unresolved issue of Tibet.

 

Tensions along LAC:

  • The Line of Actual Control (LAC) is the demarcation that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory.

 

Way ahead:

  • India needs to match ambition with commensurate augmentation of its capacities that allows it to be a net security provider in the Indian Ocean region.
  • India can focus on developing last-mile connectivity in its own backyard linking to the BRI — the slip roads to the highways, the sidetracks to the Iron Silk Roads
  • India should speed up work on development of its own strategic projects like, Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM) and Chabahar Port.

 

Conclusion:

  • OBOR initiative is a highly ambitious project and will only be a success if it is pursued in a more transparent, status quo-oriented, market-driven and responsible manner. India’s future strategy thrust on CPEC must be based on a careful reassessment of the potential benefits as well as disadvantages from OBOR project.