China and Pakistan have recently discussed the extension of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) into Afghanistan during their 4th round of Foreign Minister-level Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue held in Islamabad, Pakistan. This discussion came about during the 5th China-Pakistan-Afghanistan Trilateral Foreign Ministers Dialogue, where the agreement to combat terrorism and enhance cooperation across different economic fields was reached. In 2021, China proposed constructing the Peshawar-Kabul motorway, signifying an extension of CPEC in Afghanistan.
Understanding CPEC
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a 3,000-km long route of infrastructure projects connecting Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in China’s northwest and the Gwadar Port in Pakistan’s western province of Balochistan. This bilateral initiative between China and Pakistan aims to foster connectivity across Pakistan through a network of highways, railways, and pipelines alongside energy, industrial, and other related infrastructure developments.
The Significance Of Afghanistan for China and Pakistan
The importance of Afghanistan in this arrangement is due to its rich reserve of Rare Earth Minerals (1.4 million tonnes), which are crucial in the manufacturing of electronics and military equipment. The Taliban’s recent takeover has plunged the country into economic difficulties, with foreign aid being withdrawn. However, integrating Afghanistan into the CPEC could allow Islamabad and Beijing access to the country’s vast wealth of untapped natural resources such as copper, gold, uranium, and lithium.
Indian Concerns on CPEC’s Extension to Afghanistan
The potential integration of Afghanistan into the CPEC has several implications for India, one of them being a reduction in India’s scope of investment in Iran’s Chabahar port aiming to facilitate commerce between India, Iran, and Afghanistan with Central Asian countries. Another concern for India is that, looking at the large scale of CPEC, China may displace India as the largest regional lender to Afghanistan, surpassing India’s development aid exceeding USD 3 Billion.
Security and Sovereignty Concerns
Security concerns have been raised by the possibility of China controlling Afghanistan’s Bagram air force base. This could potentially throw a strategic advantage to Pakistan in the region and potentially increase terrorism from Pakistan against India. Moreover, as CPEC passes through PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir), its extension further undermines India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty claims.
Mineral Resource Exploitation
With the extension of CPEC to Afghanistan, there is also the looming likelihood of exploitation of Afghanistan’s rich minerals reserves. These include highly lucrative rare-earth metals, vital components for various advanced electronic technologies and high-tech missile guidance systems.
Moving Forward: Stabilizing India’s Position
CPEC has the potential to alter the regional power balance in favor of China, which could be detrimental to India. To counter this, India should consider strengthening its economic and trade ties with Afghanistan, investing in the country’s infrastructure and development. By doing so, not only would it improve Afghanistan’s economic condition, but it would also aid India in vying against the influence of CPEC.
The UPSC Civil Services Examination
Questions regarding the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and their implications on India have appeared in previous year’s UPSC Civil Services Examination papers. The initiative started in 2013 aims to connect Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa, and Europe through a network of land and sea routes. Several questions related to CPEC and China’s larger ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative, and their impact on India’s security and geo-political landscape have appeared in the 2014, 2016, and 2018 mains papers. The correct answer to a particularly relevant question in the 2016 prelims paper concerning the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ was China (option D).
