India’s Inclusion in the CPEC: A Gateway for India-Pakistan Cooperation

Abstract

The Objective of this study is to discuss the possibilities of bringing harmony to India and Pakistan’s relationship by making India part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. In 2013, the Chinese government introduced its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), under which it was decided that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would be constructed from China (Kashgar) to Pakistan (Gwadar). This research focused the response of India to the growing economic cooperation between Pakistan and China; secondly, the changes and continuities in the relationship between India and Pakistan will be discussed, and finally, the impact of the inclusion of India in the CPEC on the conflictual relationship between India and Pakistan would be discussed. It is argued in this research that India and Pakistan’s relationship is conflictual because both countries have nothing to lose by engaging in war with each other. This study involves the existing literature review, official documents, Talks shows data and interviews of experts on the topic. However, if both countries develop a dependency on each other through growing trade and economic activity, then the chances of conflict would also be minimized because then both countries have to lose more than gain by engaging in the conflictual activity.