Chinese concept of Silk Roads beyond CPEC, says Dr Di Meglio

President Dr Jean-François Di Meglio says China is keen to see CPEC succeed

LAHORE: The Chinese concept of the Silk Road is beyond the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and involves several other routes through Central and South East Asia, said Asia Centre in Paris President Dr Jean-François Di Meglio.

He was speaking at a talk on Economic, Strategic and Environmental Consequences of the New Silk Roads at the Centre for Governance and Policy at IT University on Monday.



Dr Di Meglio said the Chinese make long term plans and they were hoping that these routes would take shape in 35 years, by the time of the 100th anniversary of the Communist Revolution. “That is a long time and lots of things could happen by that time,” exclaimed Di Meglio, who is an expert on China.

“China is also rapidly changing so we must not treat it as an old communist country,” emphasised the speaker who had just returned from a trip to Beijing.

Talking about CPEC he said, “China is keen to see CPEC succeed. It is a very key part of its larger initiative.”



Discussing the international scenario, Dr Di Meglio said, “The new Silk Roads would redefine the global geopolitics but we will see its nascent results only in the medium to long term.”

Jean-François Di Meglio is the president of Asia Centre, a Paris-based independent think-tank.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2016.