Travelling from the prestigious University of St Andrews it was not Professor Ian Taylor’s first visit to China of Renmin University when he came to give his lecture ‘The Return of Geopolitics: One Belt One Road and India’ for the seventh China’s Grand Strategy class. Professor Taylor’s talk was bolstered by the fact he had recently been in India gaining insight on their perspectives towards China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative. The goal of the lecture was to present India’s concerns and reactions towards ‘OBOR’. Professor Taylor started with a cross comparison of the leaders of China and India, noting that they are very similar in nature, both are ambitious leaders looking to restore their “rightful place” in global politics and seek “great power” for their country through market-led policy. With this in mind Professor Taylor discussed in depth that the clash in rhetoric towards the ‘OBOR’ in which India interprets as a geo-political initiative, but China holds that the ‘OBOR’ only holds economic goals.
Central to Indian concerns is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which places trade routes through disputed Indian Territory but also arouses concern as Pakistan-India relations are historically tense. Furthermore, the ‘Maritime Silk Road’ initiative also is of deep concern towards India who grows worried about Chinese influence in key strategic ports being built around the Indian Ocean. These are just a couple of the many reasons India opposes ‘OBOR’ and the depth of reasoning Professor Taylor gave was insightful. In short China seems to be stepping on the toes of India’s strategic goals who are also looking to grow. Professor Taylor presented that India’s reaction has been to optimistically copy parts of the ‘OBOR’ with various counter initiatives in a bid to regain control of India’s strategic goals. In brief, two major counter initiatives are to retain maritime prowess in the Indian Ocean (Project Mausam) but also to bolster infrastructure (Bharat Mala) around disputed border areas. The students are thankful of Professor Taylor’s lecture as it was a useful in depth focus to the difficult realities the ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative is and will be facing as it matures.
