The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) flagship program ‘One Belt, One Road’, widely known as Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) has given the country a dominion position across the Global South through a series of economic investments. A vast majority of the PRC’s influence lies in South Asia as it is the intersection region where the maritime connects continents – Europe, Africa and Asia via land and the Indian Ocean. By investing in South Asian countries, the aim of the BRI is to construct overland routes to ensure access to the Indian Ocean and a secure energy supply.

Under the BRI, China is bound to increase its influence in the political economy of South Asian countries. Apart from economic development, through its soft power projects, the PRC is bound to increase its influence in host communities too. While the socio-economic development of the region is integral for the overall progression, there is growing concern about increased foreign influence in turbulent democracies of South Asia. 

As the progress of BRI will unfold in time, there is a need to compile a depository of the investments made in BRI-partner economies in South Asia, thorough assessment of progress, as well as its impacts on local communities. The BRIWatch.info has been established as an one-stop online platform that aims to provide credible information to monitor pro-people progress on BRI while being an open-access platform. The information shared in this repository will be shared from reliable sources like research and academic journals, civil society research think-tanks, conventional media and social media.

This repository carries information related to PRC’s investment in: