Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), initiated in 2013 is China’s flagship transcontinental infrastructure development project. The BRI, with total projected investment of $8 trillion, involves two connectivity segments: first, the land based Silk Road Economic Belt in Central Asia and Eurasia; and second the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, passing through the Indian Ocean and South Asia. According to official outline, the BRI aims to ‘promote the connectivity of Asian, European and African continents and their adjacent seas, establish and strengthen partnerships among the countries along the Belt and Road, set up all dimensional, multi-tiered and composite connectivity networks, and realize diversified, independent, balanced and sustainable development in these countries’ (BRI: 2021).1 Apparently benign in nature, however, the BRI has been also viewed as a tool of China’s strategic interests in Asia and beyond. Though the BRI is a transcontinental project, the region of South Asia surrounded by the Indian Ocean is a very crucial link in this project. It is the Indian Ocean which links the Pacific Ocean with the Mediterranean and the rest of the Europe. The Indian Ocean, encircling South Asia is China’s gateway to the external world for trade and energy supply. Thus, the South Asia and the Indian Ocean have deep strategic implications for South Asia, which cannot be missed. The paper is divided into three parts: the first part analyzes China’s grand strategy and the BRI as its strategic tool; the second part explains the nature and extent of BRI in South Asia and its strategic implications; and third part analyzes the challenges of BRI in South Asia and its future course.

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