India could have been a larger beneficiary of CPEC had it not been for the utterly stupid and misguided policies of its current Hindutva regime lead by Modi for following reasons.
- CPEC's far eastern alignment already connects India via Lahore and Sialkot, therefore only an upgrade to the infrastructure and construction of a dry port would have been needed to link India with CPEC.
- CPEC would have ensured India's gas link with IP and TAPI which now are highly unlikely.
- India could have had a permanent trade route via ground with China, Afghanistan, all of Central Asia, Iran, even Turkey.
- Had India invested in CPEC, Pakistan would have taken it positively and relations would have improved. Instead Modi is busy investing in terrorism.
- Pakistan would have liked to sell its coal or gas produced out of coal reserves in Thar to India. Coal projects are now underway as part of the CPEC project.
- Investing in CPEC would have allowed greater market integration with India, interdependence between Pakistan and India would create something to lose for both countries, hence improving relations would become a necessity not a show off.
- CPEC with Indian investment could have created more logistical routes which India and Pakistan could have used for conducting trade. India could have also used the same routes to trade with other countries linked to CPEC project i.e connecting Lahore with major Indian cities across the border.
There are a number of other possibilities i,e an upgraded railway freight system etc since India has good experience with railway engines and transit. Pakistan is open to India joining CPEC, however the short sighted and bigoted government lead by Modi is either too stupid or too ignorant or both to see this in the greater interest of India. They have not only missed the boat but are busy investing in funding proxies in Pakistan to somehow subvert this mega project. This is enough for me to say that India is in wrong hands.
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Its a well drafted post ,wish I could do the same.
The crux of the post are 1)Trade and 2)Route
Regarding trade this is the stated position of Pakistan.
During a meeting organised by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit said that even though Pakistan had been given the status of MFN by India in 1996, it was not very helpful for the country as the balance of trade remained greatly inclined in favour of India.
“Giving India the MFN status would have further sharpened the imbalance in favour of India,” Basit said
And regarding the second point which is land route or connectivity.
Refusing to sign a motor vehicle agreement and to open up the road link for India and Afghanistan, Pakistan has asked India to carry out trade via the Karachi port .
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told the Pakistani leadership that if they do not open up the road to India, they will deny Pakistan access to Central Asia.
If one looks it from a Indian point of view ,we have not lost anything because all these where tried before and we have not achieved anything in the past.
Yes when economies of two countries integrate, the trust increases and disputes comedown.and that has always been India's stand ,but its Pakistan's stand of revolving the disputes and then trade.
