"Recipient Countries Hold The Key To China’s BRI Success" - By CWP Alum Manjari Chatterjee Miller

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched two important connectivity initiatives: An economic silk road and a maritime silk road. The idea behind both was to create a network of connectivity between China and mostly developing countries that would boost both mutual collaboration and prosperity. These two initiatives were the foundation of what would come to be termed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a gargantuan infrastructure, trade, and connectivity venture encompassing billions of dollars of Chinese investment in projects across the globe. 

Since its inception, BRI has generated controversy. The key question among wary China watchers is whether BRI is contributing to the growth of Chinese power and influence across the globe. The answer often depends on China-centric analyses – whether China is able to successfully manage BRI. But my recently-published discussion paper with the Council on Foreign Relations finds that the case of South Asia — Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives — is an example of how this question is better answered by examining recipient countries of BRI.

Article by Manjari Chatterjee Miller, Author - Originally published at Hindustan Times - June 27, 2022 12:44 pm (EST) - https://www.cfr.org/article/recipient-countries-hold-key-chinas-bri-success?amp&source=gmail&ust=1656449422880000&usg=AOvVaw3reQr7iIcaZttVBS25P_OG

Manjari Chatterjee Miller is senior fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). She is also a research associate in the Contemporary South Asian Studies Programme at the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies at the University of Oxford. An expert on India, China, South Asia, and rising powers, she is the author of Why Nations Rise: Narratives and the Path to Great Power (2021) and Wronged by Empire: Post-Imperial Ideology and Foreign Policy in India and China (2013). Miller is also the co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of China-India Relations (2020), a monthly columnist for the Hindustan Times, and a frequent contributor to policy and media outlets in the United States and Asia.

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