Sino-Bhutan Bilateral Relations The geostrategic location of Bhutan has given it political importance in the Himalayan region. The country shares around a 470 km border with China. Traditionally, the direct relations between Bhutan and China remained minimal in the past. The two countries interacted through Tibet. For that reason, the Tibetan factor is critically important […]
Despite Indio-China frosty ties over lingering border standoff, an increase in bilateral trade has been noted last year. With imports from China nearing a record $100 billion, underlining continued demand for a range of Chinese goods, particularly machinery, bilateral trade crossed $125 billion in 2021. Source https://www.business-standard.com/economy-policy?time=1645427270
Bangladesh saw the BRI offered a great opportunity for socio-economic and infrastructure development whereas India has been wary of Chinese investment in the neighbouring state. Like other small countries in BRI, Bangladesh is struggling to strike a balance between maintaining its relationship with other great powers. Source https://merics.org/en/short-analysis/bri-bangladesh-walking-tightrope-between-beijing-and-delhi
Even though the Taliban’s government, after the fall of Kabul, has vowed to protect fundamental human rights and ensure regional peace and stability, the experts opined contrary to that. However, experts anticipated that China will provide immediate economic support to Afghanistan and will be wary of making greater investments mainly under the BRI. Source https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Afghanistan-turmoil/Taliban-rolls-out-red-carpet-to-China-s-Belt-and-RoadInitiative+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=pk
In the Maldives, there is internal political discord pertaining to Chinese investment in the country under BRI. Few officials underlined the fear of the country falling into a debt trap as it does not have the capacity to pay back the loans taken for BRI projects. On the other hand, the government officials argued that […]
It is pertinent to note that the debt problems in Sri Lanka are not completely linked to Chinese investments as debt issues in the country existed before its relationship with China. Nevertheless, China, to some extent, is responsible for creating a critical economic situation in Sri Lanka and other BRI countries. The 99-years long lease […]
Despite Nepal officially joining BRI by signing an agreement in 2017, it could not further proceed with a single project due to geopolitical reasons. Other issues like lack of transparency and mode of finances have impeded the execution of BRI projects in the country. Both sides are now working to jointly develop a draft implementation […]
A few countries have shown resistance to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) linked projects owing to various concerns. In Nepal, the locals aggrieved that investment in BRI related projects are financially unviable and have adversely affected the environment. The policymakers and politicians have been arguing to reevaluate the Chinese investments to avoid the anticipated […]
Pakistan’s economic challenges are longstanding and predate than CPEC, whereas, it started with an overarching goal of bringing prosperity and economic stability to Pakistan. Chinese companies have obtained long-term contractual rights to operate road and energy infrastructure which put Pakistan at a disadvantage. Source https://merics.org/en/analysis/bri-pakistan-chinas-flagship-economic-corridor
Beijing pledged more than $60 billion for infrastructure projects in Pakistan. The costliest 2,655km long railway project, known as Mainline-1 (ML-1) up-gradation for $6.8 billion got approved under China’s BRI. The budget for ML-1 is almost equal to Pakistan’s entire development for FY 2020/21. Source https://www.reuters.com/article/pakistan-china-cpec-railway-idUSL4N2F740A