While India believes in the principles of democracy and the rule of law to ensure sound bilateral relations with countries in the Indo-Pacific, China has gone beyond relying on bilateral agreements and wishes to encompass the whole territory through several projects.
Authors
Abhinav Mehrotra, Assistant Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Biswanath Gupta, Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
On October 17 and 18, Beijing celebrated the 10th anniversary of the One Belt One Road (OBOR) policy. The program hosted 130 countries and leaders of Russia, Pakistan, Indonesia, and other several countries attended the meeting. Beijing for the last few years has been investing heavily in route connectivity. Under this initiative, it is looking forward to different countries for the development of connectivity and mega projects.
Different international institutions highly criticise these policies for their economic viability. Some of the organisations have also called it the ‘One Belt, One Road, And One Debt’ policy. The consequences of such things are also felt in different countries. The third Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) meeting has proposed a Highway Research and Training Centre in Pakistan. This shows how Beijing is looking for new routes throughout the globe.
It is in this light that the competition between India and China for supremacy has assumed varying dimensions, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, which in terms of geo-spatiality, is broadly understood as an interconnected space between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. It ranges from the eastern shores of Africa to the western coast of the United States with variations in definitions depending on each actor and their own geographic positioning.
On one hand, India believes in the principles of democracy and the rule of law to ensure sound bilateral relations with countries in these regions. On the other hand, China has gone beyond relying on bilateral agreements and wishes to encompass the whole territory through several projects. One such project is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which has been found to violate the territorial sovereignty of India, which is a recognised principle under the UN Charter as well as raised national security concerns.
Published in: News18
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