Belt and Road Initiative: Benefits for Pakistani Economy in retrospect of CPEC.

Byline: Dr. Asif Khurshid and Mr. Fraz Butt

The belt and road initiative is China's ambitious plans for economic integration on a massive scale. The land belt runs from South China to Central Asia and joins Europe. While the maritime road joins Chinese coastal cities with Africa. The entire project is massive wherein 68 countries and international organizations have signed trade and infrastructure deals with China as part of the initiative till the date. Collectively these countries account for up to 40 percent of global GDP, a massive 21 trillion US$. Key projects of the belt and road initiative include a 12,000-kilometre railway connecting London and the Chinese city of Yi Liu. A highway that connects Kashgar in China's Far West with Pakistan's Gwadar port, and a pipeline from Turkmenistan to China that will eventually pump 55 billion cubic meters of gas a year to Shanghai. in a broader perspective, China is supposedly going to quench the raw material and resources of the world.

In more optimistic prospect, China's 'Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is trying to usher a new age of economic and regional diplomacy by integration of Asia, Europe, and Africa. These ambitious plans, launched by Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping in 2014 to connect China with its neighbors in Asia and beyond, involve more than 60 countries. Chinese president Mr. Xi has made the program a centerpiece of both his foreign policy and domestic economic strategy. The beginning of the 21st century witnessed the dawn of a complex reconfiguration of the world strategic picture driven by Chinese phenomenal economic development and upswing as a leading global power. China has steadily appeared as Pakistan's largest trading partner equally in terms of exports and imports.

Mutual trade and commercial links between the two nations were established since January 1963 when both nations engaged the first bilateral long-term trade agreement. The relationships of both countries are not only limited to economic and trade but also in the field of diplomacy and tactical partnership. Two countries have frequently exchanged high-level visits ensuing in a variety of agreements and investments in both nations at government level as well as private bodies. Pakistan and China signed a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2006 which came into effect in 2007. The agreement was separated in two parts with Phase I ending in December of 2012 and negotiations for Phase II beginning in July of...