UPSC Prelims 2016 Q72: Current Affairs – International Relations & Treaties

UPSC Prelims 2016, General Studies Paper I · Current Affairs

'Belt and Road Initiative' is sometimes mentioned in the news in the context of the affairs of

Answer: (d) China

Explanation

Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

Announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.

It was first called One Belt, One Road.

Part	Meaning
Belt	Silk Road Economic Belt: land routes from China through Central Asia to Europe
Road	21st Century Maritime Silk Road: sea routes through South-East Asia, the Indian Ocean and Africa

India's position:

Issue	Detail
CPEC	The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir
India's stand	Has not joined; cites sovereignty and debt concerns

The other options: the African Union, Brazil and the European Union are partners or destinations, but the initiative belongs to China.

Answer: (d) China.

(a) Incorrect. The African Union is a destination of projects, not the author of the initiative.
(b) Incorrect. Brazil has no such initiative.
(c) Incorrect. The European Union is at the far end of the routes, not the initiator.
(d) CORRECT. The Belt and Road Initiative is a project of China.

Belt and Road Initiative (China, 2013): Silk Road Economic Belt (land) + 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (sea); India opposes it over CPEC.

Belt and Road = China's connectivity project.

Thinking 'Belt' is the sea route and 'Road' the land route; it is the reverse.
Forgetting why India stays out: CPEC runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Confusing the initiative with the AIIB, which is a bank.

Belt = land, Road = sea. The names are the opposite of what you expect.

Ministry of External Affairs — Official Spokesperson's response on OBOR/BRI Forum (13 May 2017)
State Council of the People's Republic of China — Vision and Actions on Jointly Building the Belt and Road (2015)