To sign or not to sign. This is the question Nepal’s Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli faces as he prepares for his visit to China, which has been largely overshadowed by a debate whether he should sign an implementation plan for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The current ruling coalition, comprising Mr. Oli’s Communist … Read more
China’s economic forays into resource rich Central Asia, a region which shares deep historical, political and economic ties with Moscow, has created certain discomfiture in the Russian establishment. In a recent trade meet in Uzbekistan a Russian trade official emphasised that Russia and China were “equal partners with an equal share in trade turnover” in … Read more
A visitor poses for photos at the “Belt and Road” summit in Hong Kong, China September 14, 2023. As the BRI marks 10 years, China has pushed back against criticism of the plan, particularly with regard to projects leaving countries with debt. | Photo Credit: REUTERS India is likely to skip China’s third summit marking … Read more
One of the unexpected announcements at the G20 summit held in New Delhi earlier this month was a trade corridor designed and proposed by select member nations. The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) was launched with the promise of galvanising connectivity and trade through India, the Arabian Gulf and Europe, with an underlying goal of … Read more
Nepal has completed six years since it signed up to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), but it still appears to be at a loss — failing not only to acquire even a single project under the scheme but also to comprehend what exactly Beijing wants. Confusion exacerbated after China labelled a project, which was … Read more
The projects under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) have had a negative impact on the environment of all the countries where they have been implemented. They have increased the environmental crisis in already vulnerable regions by increasing air and water pollution and have led to water shortage and soil erosion. According to a World … Read more
Laos, situated between China, Vietnam and Thailand, is opening a $5.9 billion Chinese-built railway. But this marks the effective extension of China’s high speed rail system beyond its border and an important landmark in building international infrastructure under the Belt and Road initiative. From the very beginning the Lao authorities had a dilemma whether to … Read more