China’s Silk Road programme & India’s Mausam - Promoting economic linkages & connectivity

China’s Silk Road programme & India’s Mausam – Promoting economic linkages & connectivity

Question - The Belt and Road initiative is oriented towards improving linkages of China with nations. Discuss how China’s Silk Road programme will coalesce with India’s Mausam to promote economic linkages and boost connectivity across the globe.

China has indicated its readiness to merge the Silk Road Programme with India’s Mausam and other plans to improve connectivity in South Asian countries

• Road connectivity in south Asia will improve along the areas

• China-Pakistan economic corridor and Bangladesh-China-India Myanmar economic corridor are closely linked with the Belt and Road Initiative according to China

• The Silk Road Programme will be merged with Mausam to bring together eastern nations as well as Russia and Europe

• It will link the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central and West Asia and connections with South Asian and the Indian Ocean

• 21st Century Maritime Silk Road will pass from China’s coast to Europe via the South China Sea along with the Indian Ocean in one route and though the South China Sea to the South Pacific in the other

About Mausam

• Mausam was a project launched by the Ministry of Culture at the 38th session of the World Heritage Committee at Qatar’s Doha city

• A key aim of this project is nomination of maritime cultural landscape across the Indian Ocean as a transnational property on the UNESCO World Heritage List

• The focus of this project is to position itself on two levels:
- Macro Level: Aim is the reconnection and establishment of communications between countries of the Indian Ocean world; this would lead to improved understanding of cultural values and concerns
- Micro Level: Emphasis is on comprehension of values and national cultures within the milieu of the regional maritime network

• The fundamental theme of the project is of cultural routes and maritime landscapes associated with different parts of the Indian Ocean Littoral and the connection of coastal centres to hinterlands

• Shared knowledge systems and ideas are disseminated alongside these routes impacting coastal centres and massive parts of the environs

• Project Mausam is a multi-disciplinary project bring together long lasting ties across Indian Ocean nations

China’s Silk Road Programme and One Belt, One Road Initiative

• China hopes to create a modern Silk Road surpassing USD 2.5 trillion within a span of 10 years

• Under the Silk Road Programme and the One Belt, One Road initiative, China will recreate a
modern Silk Road Economic Belt and a 21st century Maritime Silk Road

• The aim is to boost China’s and the region’s trade and expand international influence

Facts and Stats

• Silk Road Programme involves various projects such as improving the network of rail and highway lines along with oil and gas pipelines, power grids, internet networks, maritime and other infrastructure links.

• The linkages are to be established across the globe from central, south and west Asia to Greece, Russia and Oman improving China’s connectivity to far flung EU and Africa as well

• Scheme aims to increase trade and investment between China and other countries alongside the route

• Annual trade volumes between EU and China amounted to USD 466.1 billion; China now aims to reach more than a trillion dollar business through the new Silk Road Programme