Geopolitical Implications of BRI in South Asia

Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) seems to have reshaped South Asia’s geopolitics by increasing China’s economic and strategic influence. Although stated as an economic initiative, due to its large scale investment and projects at strategic locations, it has generated tremendous concern in the global and the South Asian context. This article, based on secondary data and utilizing qualitative methods, is an attempt to explore the Implication of BRI in South Asia, focusing on the growing competition between India and China for regional influence. The study employs a descriptive and analytical approach and through the case study of four key project that runs through South Asia, namely, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, Trans-Himalayan economic corridor and Maritime Silk Road (MSR) under BRI, examines the geopolitical implication of BRI in South Asia. The research finds that although the competition for influence is not a new phenomenon, BRI has certainly toughened the struggle for influence. Since BRI is construed by its opposing nations as Chinese grand strategy to expand its influence and developed unilateral and multilateral counterstrategies, BRI appears to have broader implications in the future geopolitical order in South Asia, particularly the strategic implications of the CPEC as its flagship initiative, and the potential security implication with further expansion of ports in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, reinforcing the MSR. For the smaller South Asian nations like Nepal the evolving global landscape presents both economic and geopolitical opportunities alongside inherent challenges, requiring delicate balancing act.