China’s Obor initiative to reshape global trade
GLOBAL Spotlight
of the world’s most populous nations, which is strategically positioned along the ancient silk route, has now taken itself out of the game.
India’s position would have a lot to do with geo-political rivalry with China, as well as resentment at the participation of Pakistan.
Pakistan has benefited hugely from the $51.5 billion Chinapakistan Economic Corridor, connecting Kashgar in China with the deep-water Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea.
The corridor involves roads, railways, energy projects and free trade zones.
But China would like to see India participate in the Obor initiative.the success of the Bangladesh-china-indiamyanmar economic corridor also partly depends on the country’s involvement.
The corridor would connect Calcutta in India with China’s Yunan province.
India is possibly also concerned about China’s manufactured products, which would compete with its own struggling manufacturing sector.
Currently, China is the top source of imports for India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
But try as it might, India has not succeeded in persuading countries in its traditional sphere of influence to boycott the Obor initiative. Even Nepal – which is heavily dependent on India.
The immense economic and development opportunities were just too good to pass up. There have been suggestions that India has resorted to undermining the enterprise by stoking unrest in Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
The other country which has been pushing back against the Obor project has been Japan.
The collaboration between India and Japan in embarking on joint infrastructure projects across Africa, Iran, Sri Lanka and in South East Asia can be seen as attempts to counter China’s influence.
This new geo-political alliance between India and Japan is significant, as is its seemingly vengeful approach towards Obor.
India and Japan have labelled their infrastructure projects from Asia to the Pacific and across to Africa as part of a “Freedom Corridor” – a veiled criticism of China’s Silk Road Corridor.
Together they have agreed to jointly expand the Trincomalee port in Sri Lanka, the Chabahar port in Iran, and develop the Dawei port along the Thaimyanmar border.
India has also released a formal response to the Obor, which sets out a list of principles for the creation of infrastructure projects.
The list includes criteria such as good governance, transparency, environmental protection, skills and technology transfer – the inference being that China doesn’t adhere to those criteria.
But few, if any, countries have taken such veiled criticism seriously. Japan even sent a delegation to the Obor summit this week, led by the secretarygeneral of the Liberal Democratic Party, with the Deputy Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry also attending.
The US also sent a delegation to the summit in the end.
By and large, the new Silk Road has gathered the support of the vast majority of countries in the global community and will set a new agenda and roadmap for people-centred development.
As Obor is about development, it will also require peace and stability, making humanitarian action along its routes an imperative.
The president of the International Red Cross also attended the summit and spoke of the prospect of engaging the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to develop vital infrastructure in places where development actors are absent due to insecurity.
China’s President Xi Jinping was clearly appreciative of this input and said that Obor could “champion the spirit of humanity, compassion and dedication, and give hope to innocent people caught in dire situations.”
Greater connectivity, trade and investment between nations will surely also sow the seeds of peace, making the new Silk Road in the interests of international peace and security.