Daily Editorial – China Pakistan Economic Corridor

• China Pakistan Economic corridor

1. How would it affect India
2. Offer for India to join CPEC by Pakistan
3. Implications of Joining the CPEC for India

Click here to Download Daily Editorial PDF (28th Dec. 2016)

China Pakistan Economic corridor

 Introduction

• The CPEC is one of the most important projects of the ‘one belt, one road’ project initiated by China
• It aims to connect the China with Europe and Africa, thereby making the country a bigger player in world economic affairs.
• It Consist of a number of road, rail and pipeline ventures.
• CPEC connects Xinjiang in Northwestern region of China with Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Arabian sea, going over the Pakistan occupied Kashmir territory of Gilgit-Baltistan.
• The port at Gwadar will have the capacity to manage 19 million tons of crude oil which will be directly transferred to China.

How would it benefit Pakistan?

• CPEC is reported to have brought Pakistan twice the amount of foreign investments the country received since 2008.
• Despite the high concentration of mineral resources in the South-West Pakistan region, it has remained the poorest district.
• But Due to China this region has seen infrastructural development.
• The $46 billion promised by China will be used in generating close to 17,000 megawatts of electricity at a cost of $34 billion through coal, nuclear and other renewable energy projects.
• The rest of the money would be utilised in building up transport infrastructure.

Areas India is worried about

There are two areas which forms the part of China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) and cause of concern for India:-

• Gwadar port
• And PoK

How would it affect India

•  Corridor will affect the economic geography and regional integrity of the region
• This corridor will cut off India from potential markets such as Afghanistan.
• China is terming Gilgit Baltistan as part of Pakistan, reflects a possible shift in the Chinese position on the J&K.
• Gwadar would be a future sea port from where China would acquire a stronghold in the Indian Ocean region.
• CPEC provides China with room for immediate military and political influence in India’s neighbourhood and in West Asia.
• China would also get an access to the Arabian Sea. This would minimize its distance to the Strait of Hormuz, through which 35 percent of world oil transits.
• This corridor strengthens the string of pearl of China round India.

Offer for India to join CPEC by Pakistan

Recently a Pakistani general said that India should “shun enmity” with Pakistan and “join the $46-billion CPEC along with Iran, Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries and enjoy its benefits”.

This statement was also supported by China.

Implications of Joining the CPEC for India

• Recent terror attacks by Pakistan on Indian territory has tainted the relationship to the great extent.
• Now engaging with Pakistan on any project will have strategic implications for India.
• Participating in the project would require a major alteration in India’s present policy.
• Overlooking the territorial dimension could be interpreted as a massive climb-down from its stated position.
• Joining would be interpreted as the acquiescing to the China-Pakistan alliance in the region.
• It could also be termed as accepting the PoK as part of Pakistan.

What should India do?

• Domestically, there has been, till now, no serious political or public debate on how India should approach this issue.
• In the absence of a rational public discourse, India is yet to articulate a clear stand or position on the CPEC.
• India should take a clear positon on the CPEC very soon.