The Belt and Road Initiative—a massively ambitious trade and infrastructure plan first announced in 2013 under the name “New Silk Road,” later renamed “One Belt, One Road,” and finally in 2015officially dubbed its currhttps://chinadigitaltimes.net/2013/09/china-central-asia-new-silk-road/ent moniker—is comprised of two main routes, each with various tendrils of resource infrastructure, and several interconnecting corridors. (For a visual tour of the planned routes, see a recent interactive map from CNBC.) In recent years, the initiative has hit financial and political speed-bumps, most notably in South Asia. While India has been the loudest opponent to the BRI, the former (and currently exiled) president of the Maldives recently warned that BRI-related investments in the island nation were China’s attempt at “buying up our lands, buying up our key infrastructure and effectively buying up our sovereignty.” There have also been security concerns regarding the section that would link the land and sea routes in an especially troubled region of Pakistan, and worry that Beijing may have colonial ambitions or may use the project to legitimize its autocratic approach to governance. At Foreign Affairs, Andrew Small describes early bilateral optimism from Beijing and South Asian partners, before outlining the growing backlash to the BRI/OBOR in the region as an example of potential future barriers along the massive route.[Source]
