WHY INDIA HATES CHINA’s BRI

WHY INDIA HATES CHINA’s BRI

India is among those countries of the world who have bitterly opposed China's One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative as well as the China Pakistan Economic Corridor ( CPEC), the flagship project of OBOR. These countries also include some European nations and , most prominently, the United States.The US is against OBOR because it considers China its biggest competitor for global supremacy and influence and this project( OBOR) to be a way for Chinese to broaden their outreach and influence across the entire globe. Therefore, American opposition to OBOR is related to American fears of losing their exclusive prestige as the sole superpower of the world to China in case China's this grand intiative succeeds.

However, the question that warrants the attention of all those interested in world politics and international affairs is: why is India opposing OBOR? India is no global power, so it will lose nothing if with the success of OBOR. On the contrary, it has a lot to gain with the success of OBOR if it decides to participate in this huge intitaive. However, it is not that simple.There are many reasons why India is strongly opposing OBOR.

Firstly, OBOR has the CPEC ( China Pakistan Economic Corridor) as its flagship project. This project ( the CPEC) has already brought billions of dollars in investment to Pakistan and is said to be a game changer for Pakistan, for it is expected to cause large scale industrial relocation to Pakistan and bring huge amounts of FDI to Pakistan in the coming decades.These developments will improve Pakistan's ever sick economy and will therefore help Pakistan build a strong military to confront India. India , however, abhors the idea of a developed and strong Pakistan for the reasons that need no explanation. Therefore, it dislikes OBOR and the CPEC.

Secondly, India has always dreamt of becoming a regional hegemon. It wants to dominate the entire Indian Ocean from Singapore to the Gulf of Eden as the British once did. In other words, India wants such an Indian Ocean that is only dominated by India. China's OBOR has put India's dream of regional domination at risk by giving China an increased access to Indian Ocean and regional ports where China can develop military bases in the coming years. That is why development of Gwadar Port by China , as a part of the CPEC, has caused serious problems to Indians, as China's naval presence in Gawadar will be huge strategic disadvantage to India in the Indian Ocean. OBOR, hence, has causes another challenging problem for India.

Thirdly, OBOR will further increase China's economic power by giving China an easy and increased access to global markets. Increase in economjc power will definitely mean increase in military power for China. This is also abhorred by India as it has longstanding border issues with China and has also gone to a full fledge war with China in 1962. Moreover, an increase in China's power undermines India's status as a regional hegemon.

Fourthly, India is part of American alliance formed to counter and curtail Chinese influence in the region, and India has gained a lot by becoming part of this alliance. Therefore, India keeps on spreading propaganda against OBOR so as to win favors with the US.