BRI Benefits SAARC countries

Belt and Road Initiative and South Asia is a book edited by Dr. Kalyan Raj Sharma which chronicles 11 articles of experts on Belt and Road Initiative. The chapters have conducted a fair discussion as well as a critical evaluation of the BRI projects. Each chapter contains a wealth of information and offers guidance to nations that continue to shun BRI projects. China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has generated both excitement and trepidation because it affects not only a sizable number of nations but also each one’s socioeconomic and geopolitical situation.

At time when the world has suffered a developmental setbacks, this book comes up with some genuine feedback how Nepal, South Asian nations and Southeast nations at large can overcome their development bottleneck and fulfill gaps in infrastructure connectivity network and the areas of cooperation.

Through improved policy coordination, infrastructure connection, unhindered trade, financial integration, and interpersonal ties, the BRI seeks to advance win-win collaboration between China and South Asia. In the first chapter by Yin Xiangshuo China’s Trade Imbalance with South Asian Nations, How Can the BRI help? Though the foreign trade between China and South Asia has increased since 1990s, trade imbalance is the major problem and to tackle the problem a better and close cooperation is required among the South Asian Nations to fully reap the benefits of BRI. The BRI is dedicated to improving people-to-people communication, trade, finance, and infrastructure across nations. The Initiative offers substantial support and impetus for the implementation of the SDGs and is highly aligned with the 2030 Agenda in terms of visions, goals, and measures. 

The second-largest and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world is China. China intends to set the pace for economic development in Asia through the BRI. China introduced BRI to South Asia while keeping all of its goals and objectives in mind. Economic sectors have undoubtedly grown in the countries that entered into agreements with China under BRI. South Asia is a “priority zone” in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the author Hina Aslam claims in her chapter. The BRI projects primarily benefit South Asian countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, but they can also create many benefits for the region as a whole. According to Vaqar Ahmed’s “Evidence and Lessons from BRI: The Case of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor,” CPEC-related investments in Pakistan enhanced electricity production, logistics, and transportation. This allowed Pakistan to experience higher levels of growth, at least in the short term, and the development of additional capacities in some industrial sectors.

Nepal benefits from the Belt and Road Initiative as well. The scope and potential for Nepal-China cooperation in the BRI are also discussed in the book. The idea may aid in attracting significant Chinese investment, which will hasten social and economic development. Chinese and Nepali negotiators ought to reach a compromise that benefits both sides. The chapter recommends, among other things, that the political and social environment should stay stable for the benefit of bilateral economic cooperation. “With Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Nepal in 2019, China-Nepal relations have entered in a new era. Under the BRI, both sides should strengthen their mutually beneficial communication and cooperation.

The BRI projects are expected to be impacted by the post-pandemic world order. The COVID-19 Pandemic and BRI 2.0 by Partha S. Banerjee discusses the fresh potential for the BRI in the years after COVID-19. China may choose projects it would finance or co-finance and develop them under the BRI 2.0 with even more care. After the pandemic, emerging industries including the internet and smart economy, green energy, agriculture, and healthcare are likely to see an increase in BRI 2.0 financing.

Looking the Belt and Road Initiative from the Southeast Asian perspective, Lao PDR signed BRI with China in 2016 and relationship between the two nations has been boosted since then. The projects such as Laos-China railway under BRI has accelerated the economic development in the country. Meanwhile Malaysia considers China has become more powerful and “assertive”, and actively promoting economic inducement via the BRI. Malaysia has taken China’s BRI project more positively and considers it to be too big and important for domestic development of Malaysia. The win-win framework remains to be a promising paradigm that signals positive engagements between China and the partner countries. The Philippine government directed by its national development vision and strategies has seen how the BRI could complement its actions. 

A wonderful result of numerous researchers in South Asia is the book Belt and Road Initiative and South Asia, edited by Dr. Kalyan Raj Sharma. This book is a fantastic illustration of how academics from various nations along the Belt and Road in South and Southeast Asia collaborated. It would be advantageous for all the participating nations in the Belt and Road Initiative if comparable studies could be conducted in other Belt and Road regions.