Abstract
Ever since President Xi Jinping announced the ‘One Belt, One Road’ project in 2013, more than 66 countries across the continent expressed their interest to be part of this grand project of the century. In South Asia, most of the countries embraced the idea except India. There is no doubt that OBOR is likely to have far-reaching implications on South Asian politics, economy and security. China has been engaging in the region through various economic and development projects for last two decades. This has raised serious security and strategic concerns in India. China’s growing bilateral trade investments and development-oriented connectivity projects in India’s neighbourhood have been popularly dubbed as China’s ‘String of Pearl Strategy’ aimed to contract India’s sphere of influence in the region. There is a deficit of trust between emerging India and rising China over their interests and intentions. Many observers, however, view OBOR as a game changer at least in South Asia, where this would necessitate re-alignment and re-balancing. But, how does India perceive this project is a matter of serious concern that would shape the nature of implications on South Asia? In this context, this article examines the impact of OBOR on South Asia Region from sub-regional perspectives and it explores how China can play a constructive role by reconciling its grand strategy with national interests of South Asian countries in order to minimise the adverse impact of OBOR [especially China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)] on the peace and security of the region through effective CBMs.