PAPER ID:IJIM/V.III(I)/ 7-14/2
AUTHOR: Marilyn Kwan Kharkongor
TITLE: ONE BELT ONE ROAD INITIATIVE: HOW WILL INDIA BALANCE CHINA’S NEW STRATEGY?
ABSTRACT: China’s One Belt One Road (One Belt One Road) Initiative was introduced in 2013 by President Xi Jinping during his visit to Central Asia and Southeast Asia. The idea was to revive the long-lost connectivity of the Silk Road that existed 200 millennials ago between Asia, Europe and Africa. This economic initiative brought with it immense strategic connotations, as Six corridors were to be created to connect 65 countries along the entire road and belt that ranged from developed economies of Europe, to vibrant East Asian economies right up to economies with high potential for economic development. The One Belt One Road was to spread not only economic cooperation but cultural exchange to further people-to-people links amidst all the contributing nations. It is with this initiative that the position of the Indian democracy comes to play a vital role; the strategic location of the growing India economy in the Indian Ocean posits India as an essential part-taker for the success of China’s One Belt One Road initiative. Thus, this paper seeks to evaluate the One Belt One Road in terms of how it effects India’s position in the Asian region, how China is using it’s One Belt One Road Initiative to tilt the Asian balance of power and isolate India in the Asian region. The paper is divided into three parts: the first part analyses China’s One Belt One Road Initiative in order to gain an objective comprehension, the second section analyses how the One Belt One Road acts as an impediment to India’s position in the region and the third section of the paper studies how India is to deal with the One Belt One Road to remain in the Asian power play. A descriptive-analytical method has been adopted in this paper to analyse and present the facts with optimum level of objectivity.
KEYWORDS: : India, China, foreign policy, One Belt One Road, Balance of Power.