China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: In the context of ‘String of Pearl Strategy

Abstract

<p>This paper narrates china’s investment in South East Asian region and the up-gradation and construction of ‘Deep Sea Ports’ in countries such as Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. China’s escalating growth of its naval bases and trade influences in Indian and South Chinese Ocean is globally coined as China’s ‘String of Pearls Strategy’ (SOPs). Recently China has initiated $46 Billion projects in Pakistan, connecting deep sea Port of Gwadar with Kashgar, which is mostly discussed in the literature as ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’ (CPEC). This corridor is considered to be a game changer in South Asia’s emerging economies. The current document is an approach of descriptive exploratory study to highlight the importance of String of Pearl theory in the strategic manner, the China’s initiative of economic corridor and rapid re-structuring of the silk roads for the trade purpose. CPEC’s investment in Pakistan and the political and power dynamics in the South East Asia among countries in terms of politics, internal situation and inter-country alliances. The current document highlighted and discussed the policies which Pakistan can be predicted to be followed to improve the effectiveness of CPEC.</p>