To Cooperate, or Not to Cooperate: Assessing Pay-offs of the Belt and Road Initiative for India

This paper seeks to examine the implications of China’s One Belt One Road project on India. While the OBOR has generated trepidation in India with regard to the project being a cover for China’s intentions to smother India’s strategic space, embolden its neighbours with projects like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and increase China’s presence in India’s neighbourhood, it is argued in this paper that participation in this project could outweigh possible deleterious outcomes and would be better than sitting it out altogether. It is argued that overtures by China to India to join the OBOR should not be eschewed and instead should be consummately debated as participation in this multimodal project would make available for India an avenue to mold it in a way which is not inimical to its visions of regional balance as well as afford it with economic prospects in tune with its ambitions under the Act East Policy, while at the same time enable it to equipoise any strategic space which would be accrued by China