CPEC: A Game Changer in the Balance of Power in South Asia

China Quarterly of International Strategic Studies

https://doi.org/10.1142/S237774001850029X

By Zahid Khan, Guo Changgang, Riaz Ahmad and Fang Wenhao

Abstract

Intended as a pilot flagship project under the Chinese-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has received relatively positive responses from actors in and outside the South Asian region. Islamabad, New Delhi, and Washington have offered their support to the project to varying degrees, because the financial commitments made by Beijing can help narrow the substantial funding gap for regional infrastructure connectivity. Nevertheless, enduring animosity and mistrust between India and Pakistan and growing strategic competition between Beijing and Washington present the biggest challenges to the project’s sustainable progress. Although the unfolding U.S.-China competition has not tangibly affected regional cooperation, as Washington’s enthusiasm for and investment in the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor (IPEC) remain low compared with China’s down payment, the potential change in the balance of power in South Asia has triggered increasing concern from and collaboration between the United States and India. By highlighting the positive-sum logic of improved infrastructure interconnection as well as greater economic integration, and contributing to a more stable geopolitical environment in South Asia, Beijing can help alleviate the longstanding enmity between India and Pakistan and assuage Washington’s and New Delhi’s skepticism about its strategic intentions.

Keywords:

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

economic integration

power dynamics

Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor (IPEC)

regional perspectives

s237774001850029x.pdf

Zahid Khan is a PhD scholar in Global Studies at the Center for Global Studies, Shanghai University. He can be contacted at mzahidshu@gmail.com. Guo Changgang is Professor of History, Director of the Center for Global Studies and the Center for Turkish Studies as well as Deputy Dean of the Graduate School, Shanghai University. His mailing address is: Center for Global Studies, East Campus, Shanghai University, China. He can also be contacted at gchgang@staff.shu.edu.cn. Riaz Ahmad is a PhD candidate at the School of Public Affairs, Zhejiang University. He can be contacted at drriaz@zju.edu.cn. Fang Wenhao is a PhD scholar in Global Studies at the Center for Global Studies, Shanghai University. He can be contacted at ak47fan2008@gmail.com.