KARACHI:
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by China contains 2,600 projects with a combined value of $3.7 trillion. It is scattered across 140 countries and has increased Chinese influence around the world. To counterbalance BRI, the US launched Build Back Better World (B3W), a global initiative promising $40 trillion investment for infrastructure development in multiple countries having negligible growth, by 2035. It is stated to focus on climate change, health security, digital technology, and gender equality. According to reports, BRI-led projects have caused debt unsustainability in several countries. Similarly, B3W lacks clarity. There is no proper plan of investing $40 trillion. It is a multilateral initiative that involves members of the G7. In addition, the West has not undertaken any major infrastructure project since 1948 and has a poor track record on infrastructure development.
The BRI is an economic plan that will help intra-regional connectivity through strategic infrastructure. Considering that Pakistan enjoys a strategic partnership with China, CPEC, which is the flagship project of BRI, is implemented in Pakistan. The current projects of CPEC have a combined value of $25.2 billion and generated 75,000 jobs. Pakistan will not halt or scale back the progress of CPEC projects. Thucydides’ trap seems to be the only justification for rapidly deteriorating Sino-US ties. However, the confrontation can also progress into cooperation, bellicosity into peaceful coexistence and international collaboration rather than ideological building.
Omar Shahkar
Islamabad
Published in The Express Tribune, August 22nd, 2021.
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