China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): International Media Reporting and Legal Validity of Gilgit-Baltistan

Abstract

New Silk Road Initiative is known as Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), an initiative which connect the China to the world for establish a free trade zone. China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one of the mega project of BRI that strengthen the relationship between Pakistan and China. It was started with the initial value of $46 billion for the development of transportation, infrastructure, and energy projects in Pakistan which has reached to $62 billion now. CPEC projects are going to open a new door of progress in Pakistan and also getting an attention of international media to highlight the opportunities and challenges of these ongoing projects. The aim of this study is to observe the international media reporting about the CPEC by examining the international news which was reported in the following international newspapers regarding CPEC, such as Dawn News (Pakistan), Global Times (China), Times of India (India) and BBC News (UK). News reported from January 2018 to June 2018 has the part of my study and tried to find out that the way of international media to shatter the news and what are the differences and similarities among the news reporting. The study has also discussed and clarified the legal territorial right of the regions of the CPEC, especially the Gilgit-Baltistan.