What is One Belt One Road (OBOR) :-
- OBOR is a China’s project aimed to improve connectivity and cooperation among Eurasian countries.
- It connects 68 countries and covers about 40% of world’s GDP.
- OBOR executes infrastructure projects in those connected countries and also improves trade among countries.
- In the medieval period, there was a silk route from China to other countries, which was used to trade silk. Now, China is reviving this silk road and named it as OBOR.
- ‘One Belt’ is land route formed by OBOR, called as ‘Silk Road Economic Belt‘. ‘One Road’ is ‘Maritime silk Road‘ formed by ocean route.
Negative impact :-
- China’s projects of ports, naval bases and surveillance posts in Indian Ocean will encircle India. This is commonly called as “String of Pearls“.
- “China-Pakistan Economic Corridor” (CPEC)- Flagship project under the mega OBOR initiative, passes through Pak occupied part of Kashmir. This step of China undermines India’s sovereignty as China didn’t take permission from India.
- China may take control of the developing countries through its investments, this may impact the trade relations between India and these countries.
- If India joins in OBOR, Chinese companies may supervise the projects in India under OBOR. This will be a minus because Chinese companies may not create employment opportunities for local people and may not care about local developmental needs.
Positive impact :-
- India’s major drawback is lack of infrastructure. If India partners with OBOR, it can utilize China’s investments and technology to overcome this drawback.
- If India becomes a part of OBOR, trade relations of India with Eurasian countries will improve.
Conclusion :-
Despite of being encircled by Chinese projects, India is powerful enough to sustain its influence in the world politics. Hence, there is no need to worry about OBOR. But India should be strict in the case of China ignoring India’s sovereignty. By taking advantage of OBOR, India can overcome its major drawback of lack of infrastructure.
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