The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is the initiative of current Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in 2013. It aims to construct commercial trade routes connecting China with Europe and Africa. The route is estimated to link 65 countries constituting nearly 4.4 billion people in Asia, East Africa, the Middle East and Europe. The Chinese government, in its action plan on the Belt and Road initiative, mentions that the project will create “a way for win-win cooperation that promotes common development and prosperity and a road toward peace and friendship by enhancing mutual understanding and trust, and strengthening all-around exchange”. The OBOR initiative is expected to benefit the entire world with its plans of US$1 trillion worth of infrastructure investment. The initiative has garnered support from major economies over the world as shown by their active participation during the Belt and Road Forum held in Beijing this May. China shares a border with five South Asian countries ranging from the major powers in South Asia—India and Pakistan—to others: Afghanistan, Nepal and Bhutan. Since the late 1990s, a Chinese economic tie in terms of trade, investment, and financial assistance has been growing in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region. Over the past 15 years—from 2000 to 2014—China has managed to become the largest trading partner of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and the second largest trading partner of Sri Lanka and Nepal. At a time of global economic slowdown, and Western donor funding on the decline, China has come to South Asian countries as a reliable development partner to complement their development needs. This has gradually strengthened their economic linkages with China, including for their economic growth and development. In South Asia, OBOR initiative has already made progress through projects like the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is expected to build infrastructures linking China with the Indian Ocean at an estimated cost of US$54 billion. It also plans to connect China with India via Myanmar and Bangladesh. There has been substantial infrastructure development in Sri Lanka with the Chinese support. China is readying itself to enter South Asia via Nepal as well, and the former has already expressed its willingness to participate in the transnational project. The OBOR comes to South Asia with a prospect of much needed investment support for its infrastructural needs. Development of infrastructure—the basics: roads and bridges, among others—remain instrumental in this economically laggard region. Attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and uplifting millions of South Asian poor out of poverty, also needs substantial financial investment.