ABSTRACT
The Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) is basically the revival of the old Silk Route – the land route via Eurasia. This new Silk Route, which actually is an expanding network of transportation infrastructure linking the West and the East, and is through the networks trying to connect carefully and deliberately to minerals and energy sources and at the same time getting access to cities, harbours and oceans. China launched its ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’ initiative in Astana, Kazakhstan in September 2013, where President Xi Jinping was on a state visit. President Xi proposed the concept of the SREB, which is part of his ‘China Dream’ (中国梦 Zhongguo meng). The SREB focuses on bringing together China, Central Asia, Russia and Europe. It will be linking China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central Asia and West Asia. The SREB actually builds on China’s long-standing economic investments in Central Asia, and believes it still has the potential to further develop Central Asian economies. In the same year in October 2013, on a visit to Indonesia, President Xi put forward the idea of a ‘Maritime Silk Road of the Twenty-First Century’ (MSR). Incidentally in the Chinese lexicon the two initiatives are referred to as the Belt and the Road or the One Belt One Road (OBOR). Taken together, the ‘Belt and Road’ initiatives reflect China’s core strategy and policy orientation.
As China seeks to expand its sphere of influence, economically and geopolitically, it is likely to encounter significant resistance. This chapter, apart from highlighting the Central Asian response, will delineate the challenges that China would face. This chapter will also look at India’s interests, if any.
