China launched the world-wide Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, the very year when its current president Xi Jinping assumed power. Jinping mooted the concept and announced it in September 2013 in Central Asia Republic (CAR) Kazakhstan as the ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ with the intention of creating a vast network of road, rail and support infrastructure to connect majority of land-locked nations with other nations of the world to ensure economic growth, prosperity and better understanding of each other.
It is besides the point that China is leveraging its financial muscles to expand its economic, diplomatic and political influence in the garb of this initiative.
In addition to this, China has also conceptualised the extension of the maritime silk route, which is being implemented through development of ports, shipping infrastructure and road network in target countries.
Appearing on the face of it as a progressive economic development strategy, it has huge future challenges for the participating countries, given the expansionist agenda of China clubbed with its debt-trapping strategy.
While the land connectivity addresses large a number of nations in Asia and Europe, the maritime connectivity addresses majority of coastal nations in Asia, Africa and Europe. These two converge in Europe, both having commenced in China. These have multiple branches to cover a larger number of nations as against being a single linear alignment. China has carefully chosen these…
