The status of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in South Asia

Context

At the recently concluded summit of G­7 leaders in Germany, U.S. President Joe Biden and his allies unveiled their $600 billion plan called the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Intelligence which is being seen as a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), valued at a trillion U.S. dollars by some experts.

What is China’s Belt and Road Initiative?

• Vision- In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping, during his visits to Kazakhstan and Indonesia, expressed his vision to build a Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, to break the “bottleneck” in Asian connectivity.
• Investment- The initiative envisioned a Chinese­led investment of over $1 trillion in partner countries by 2025.
• Partnership- More than 60 countries have now joined BRI agreements with China, with infrastructure projects under the initiative being planned or under construction in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.