ON the sidelines of the G20 leaders’ meeting in New Delhi, some countries announced to launch the “India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor” (IMEC) or “Spice Route’ on the pattern of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s epoch-making ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ that aims at linking almost all continents of the globe under the visionary approach of shared prosperity. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Government is on record having allocated billions of rupees to carry out multi-pronged sabotage activities against the purely developmental project of ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’ (CPEC), a flagship component of the BRI, is touting it as a major diplomatic achievement and a distinctive economic initiative as it is backed by the world’s only superpower and wealthy Arab countries. However, the fact remains that the CPEC is a golden reality on ground whereas the Spice Route is nothing but a castle in the air.
It is a matter of record that some countries forming part of the new connectivity project opposed tooth and nail the Chinese initiative and tried to create hurdles in the way of its smooth implementation despite the fact that it was envisaged to share the fruits of progress and development. However, the Chinese, known for their speed, worked closely with the participating nations and as a result on the tenth anniversary of the BRI, the world is already benefitting immensely from the initiative. Benefiting from the BRI, the GDP share of emerging and developing economies in the world increased by 3.6% from 2012 to 2021. The World Bank estimates that by 2030, the BRI will generate US$1.6 trillion in global revenue each year, accounting for 1.3% of global GDP. From 2015 to 2030, almost 40 million people will be lifted out of poverty under the auspices of BRI. The success of the BRI can be gauged by the fact that as of end June 2023, China has signed more than 200 documents on jointly building the BRI with 152 countries and 32 international organizations. Propaganda and conspiracies notwithstanding, CPEC is the living proof of the resounding success of the initiative as it is helping Pakistan overcome its chronic problems in the realms of connectivity and energy while new projects are planned to exploit the full potential of the country in sectors like agriculture and IT. The attempt of India and the US to copy the CPEC/BRI after full ten years is a glowing tribute to the success of the Chinese initiative and speaks volumes about their mindset, which is overwhelmed by anti-China sentiments and encirclement of the rising global economic and military giant. It may also be pointed out that a significant part of the railway network and pipelines, envisioned under the Spice Route, would be under the sea, an idea that could not be visualized by the United States and Russia despite years of discussions. In fact, the Chinese rattled the world when President Xi Jinping announced his plan to launch the BRI and CPEC trade and energy corridors linking the entire world. First, efforts were made by some influential countries to pressurize smaller countries not to become part of the initiative but given the track record of China to pursue developmental projects with utmost sincerity, more and more states joined it and are now benefiting in different walks of life. India tried to present the Spice Route project as a crown in its diplomacy but had the delegates ventured outside the boundaries of Kejriwal’s territory, they would have come across 250 million Muslims of India running all over the country like scared rabbits in search of a secure place to live where they could freely practice their religion and earn a decent livelihood. In addition they would have witnessed the horrible scenes of over 400 million people forced to defecate in open fields, sea beaches and every possible available space due to lack of proper latrine facilities. As against this, China has not only taken the world’s largest population to new heights of progress and prosperity but is also keen to share its developmental experience with the rest of the world, especially with developing and least developed countries of the globe and that too without attaching any humiliating conditions.
