The star project of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), is a mega endeavor consisting of numerous economic and infrastructure projects throughout Pakistan. The $62 billion CPEC’s main highpoints include a 3,000-kilometer network of railways, oil and gas pipelines connecting both countries, as well as new renewable energy projects.
As soon as CPEC was publicized, a shift in regional alliances was set in motion. India has from the outset opposed the CPEC and BRI – even though China has on a myriad of occasions requested them to partake in the endeavor. Ostensibly, India claims to resist the project due to it passing through Pakistan’s Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan areas (India asserts that these regions belong to them). However, their fervent distaste for CPEC is due to two other reasons. Firstly, CPEC’s success would bolster China’s position as the regional hegemon, propelling them to superpower status. Secondly, if CPEC works, Pakistan, a historic rival of India, would become a stronger and more stable regional and economic actor.
This dismays not only India but also America, which views BRI and CPEC as a threat to “its hegemony and superpower status”. China’s ultimate goal is to utilize Pakistan’s strategically positioned deep-sea port, Gwadar, for energy security purposes. CPEC and BRI thus signal a strategic and economic advantage for Pakistan and China. It is recently, especially after Trump became president, that America replaced Pakistan with India as its primary ally in South Asia and is propping up India in an attempt to negate Chinese influence. In 2018, the White House suspended $2 billion of military aid to Pakistan, while it concurrently supported India with economic and military partnerships. Where India is now placed in the warm (yet unreliable) embrace of America, Pakistan finds itself paired with its ever-loyal iron brother, China.
