World leaders are gathering in Beijing this weekend for a big summit touting China’s infrastructure spending spree to connect Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The project, known as the Belt and Road Initiative—or “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) in straight translation—was introduced by president Xi Jinping in 2013 as a land-and-sea version of […]
For the Chinese, these are uncharted waters. They will have to balance gains to the ruling elites in Islamabad and Lahore with those to the locals in Balochistan, who are more than capable of violently disrupting work on the corridor. If China fails to do so, Pakistan will end up more unstable, not less. Read […]
China will gather its friends and allies together for its biggest diplomatic event of the year in May, a summit on its New Silk Road plan, with most Asian leaders due to attend but only one from a G7 nation, the Italian prime minister. Read Here – Reuters
There has been a chorus of voices in recent months who have argued that India’s official position on CPEC is untenable and will end up isolating India from the China-led connectivity transformation across the globe. Read Here – Daily O
Two international lending institutions and Pakistan’s central bank have raised concerns about the debt burden of a huge China-led infrastructure program on the country’s improving but fragile finances. Surging Chinese imports for the initiative, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor program, have complicated Pakistan’s balance of payments problems during its second year of economic recovery […]
India is in a period of rapid economic development, but the nation has not been as generous as its neighbouring countries hoped it would be in providing financial assistance to underdeveloped areas and promoting regional integration. A yawning infrastructure funding gap in South Asian countries creates space for China and those nations to strengthen economic […]
After one year in power, Aung San Suu Kyi has gone all but missing from the public ear. Her voice, long known for inspiring her people, is heard in only a handful of public appearances or daily private meetings with officials and foreign dignitaries, while there is nearly no interaction with the media. Read Here […]
Betting its fate on Pakistan with a $51-billion investment in infrastructure, China remains wary of its neighbour’s squint-eyed politicians who have proven their lack of vision over the years. Many of these politicians can’t see beyond the impending election woes. Read Here – The Express Tribune
The economy of the United States is the largest in the world. At $18 trillion, it represents a quarter share of the global economy (24.3%), according to the latest World Bank figures. Read Here – World Economic Forum
looking beyond borders 