INDIA recently hosted the G-20 summit, purportedly aimed at enhancing connectivity and economic well-being among member states. The proposed route of connectivity encompasses the eastern corridor, intending to connect India and the Gulf countries, while the northern corridor is slated to link the Arabian Peninsula with Europe. The railway route will pass through the UAE, KSA, Jordan, Israel and then enter Europe. The objective is to transfer all manufacturing plants from China to India, establishing a regional stronghold for India. Both corridors include a ship-to-rail transit network designed to create a cost-effective transportation route for the participating countries. U.S. and European officials present at the summit hailed it as a game-changer, stating that it would cut trade time between India and Europe by 40 percent.
However, it comes as little surprise that the whole exercise is aimed at containing China and promoting India for a permanent seat in the United Nations. The biggest question in one’s mind is the feasibility of this proposed idea. The answer lies in its potential to be realized. The chosen sea route is as peaceful as that of roads. However, amid the prevailing global tension, the intentions of enhancing connectivity under the guise of countering China seem questionable. Global hedging has significantly grown, especially after the Russo-Ukraine war. For instance, India has pursued hedging while maintaining diplomatic as well as commercial ties with China, Russia and the United States simultaneously. For Modi, hedging acts as an insurance policy.
China has established symbiotic relations with countries worldwide, such as its cooperation with Saudi Arabia in high-tech, oil and energy, road infrastructure and agriculture. The recent Saudi-Iran thaw brokered by China is no secret. Consequently, it is unlikely that any G-20 member state will fall into a head-on collision with China. Thus, the motive of pitting them against each other appears to dissipate. To neutralize this jeopardy, China and Pakistan must focus on stepping up progress on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as it is the sinew for confronting such immense challenges. China should also come forward with open support to Pakistan, as the US does in the case of India. In the midst of the evolving global order, CPEC is the only hope to counterbalance any looming threat to China’s rise.
A lingering question remains: whether any Western or Muslim state would walk out of this forum to show sympathy with the minorities under threat in India. It is hard to believe that any of the participants would put their stakes in danger while hedging is the order of the day.
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—The writer is a contributing columnist based in Gujranwala,
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