China is trying to solidify its presence in Afghanistan by using Pakistan to spread BRI into the new region
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China's CPEC goes to Afghanistan - BRI's spreading wings
- The story: Since 2013, China's President Xi Jinping has pushed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) throughout the Eurasian, Central Asian and African region, with billions of dollars in investments. A major project was the CPEC - China Pakistan Economic Corridor - linking China's Xinjiang to Pakistan's Gwadar, and passing through the sovereign territory of India (northwestern part of Kashmir).
- Afghan outreach: In a bid to push the CPEC, China is exploring opportunities to exploit Pakistan to enter Afghanistan. Chinese Ambassador to Afghanistan, Wang Yu, met Abdul Salam Hanafi (Taliban political office in Qatar), in Kabul and had detailed consultation. China said it respects the Afghan people's independent decision on their own future and destiny, and supports the implementation of the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned principle. China will develop good, neighbourly relations of friendship and cooperation with Afghanistan and play a constructive role in the peace and reconstruction.
- CPEC related: China proposed construction of the Peshawar-Kabul motorway as an extension of CPEC in Afghanistan. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and China emerging as a major challenge in the form of the extension of its ambitious CPEC, has raised India’s concerns on economic, political and security fronts.
- Details of the project: The CPEC is a bilateral project between Pakistan and China, intended to promote connectivity across Pakistan with a network of highways, railways, and pipelines accompanied by energy, industrial, and other infrastructure development projects. China has pledged over $60 billion for infrastructure projects in Pakistan, much of it in the form of loans.
- It links the Western part of China (Xinjiang province) to the Gwadar Port in Balochistan, Pakistan via Khunjerab Pass in the Northern Parts of Pakistan.
- It paves the way for China to access the Middle East and Africa from Gwadar Port, enabling China to access the Indian Ocean.
- CPEC, as said, is a part of the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), earlier called One Belt One Road (OBOR). The BRI, launched in 2013, aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.
- India severely criticises the CPEC, as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which is a disputed territory between India and Pakistan.
- Impact on India: In Afghanistan, it is clear China is trying to fill the vacuum created after the US forces left Afghanistan, by pushing its Belt and Road (BRI) initiatives. The key concern with Afghanistan joining CPEC is that Indian investment in the Chabahar port of Iran may be threatened. India is also wary of the way India–Iran–Afghanistan trilateral may be undermined. Attempts to extend CPEC to Afghanistan may undermine India’s position as economic, security and strategic partner of Afghanistan.
- India has been the biggest regional donor to Afghanistan committing more than US$2 billion for the developmental work that includes construction of roads, power plants, dams, parliament building, rural development, education, infrastructure and more.
- With the extended CPEC, China will play a leading role in Afghanistan totally overshadowing India’s economic influence in Afghanistan.
- India’s limited strategic depth in Afghanistan will mean China would be in a better position to leverage its strategic advantages in Afghanistan. Pakistan will gain a strategic advantage and upper hand in Afghanistan at the cost of India. That has terror implications too.
- Besides the issues with the CPEC, India is wary that China may try to take over the Bagram air force base in Afghanistan. The Bagram airport is the biggest airport and technically well-equipped as the Americans kept it for their use till the end, instead of the Kabul airport. They left suddenly!
- China is looking to exploit Afghanistan's rich minerals and highly lucrative rare-earth mines. Rare-earth metals, key components for a host of advanced electronic technologies and hi-tech missile guidance systems, are a part of the emerging new economy worldwide.
- For the success of CPEC in Afghanistan and to a large extent in Pakistan’s troublesome territories, it becomes imperative for China to stabilise the security situation in the region. Better infrastructure and security situation in Afghanistan may ironically also help India to conduct its economic and trade activities in a smoother way. But given China's hostility, and the fact that both Pakistan and Taliban are aligned against India, Afghanistan joining CPEC will certainly be a strategic advantage for China and a loss for India.
- Summary: In the short run, India's options in the region are indeed getting constrained. It may choose to find new ways to counter BRI and CPEC via the West's Build Back Better World initiative, and simply wait things out.
- EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the reason China is investing tens of billions in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). (2) What are India's three strategic imperatives now, in the central Asian region? List and explain. (3) What difference does the BRI - CPEC make to India? Analyse.
#China #Afghanistan #BRI #CPEC #Pakistan
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