Contemporary China Seminar Series – University of Melbourne
Dr Pradeep Taneja, University of Melbourne
5.30pm-7.00pm Thursday 3 August, 2017
Old Geology, Theatre 2, University of Melbourne, Parkville
Admission is free, but places are limited so registration is essential.
Despite claims by Chinese officials that Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is not political, it is inevitable that the purportedly more than a trillion dollar program of infrastructure construction and multiple connectivity corridors will have significant geopolitical and security implications; some intended and others unforeseen. This paper focuses on India’s response to the mega Chinese initiative and its effect on the geopolitics of South Asia. Most of India’s neighbours have officially joined the BRI initiative, attracted by the promise of billions of dollars in Chinese investment, aid and loans. Pakistan, in particular, is one of its principal beneficiaries. China has promised to invest more than US$60 billion in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which has already emerged as the flagship BRI project. India, on the other hand, has declined to be a part of BRI, and it turned down the invitation to attend the much-hyped BRI Forum in Beijing last May. This paper examines the Indian government’s reservations about the initiative and the impact of CPEC on India-Pakistan relations.
Dr Pradeep Taneja focuses on Chinese politics and international relations in his teaching and research in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. He is also an Associate of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies and a Fellow of the Australia India Institute. He lived and worked in China for many years. His research interests and publications span the Himalayan divide, covering both China and India. He is frequently interviewed by Australian and international media on developments in Asia. He is currently working on a book looking at the rise of China from an Indian perspective.