China Pakistan Economic Corridor: Prospects and Challenges for Regional Integration

Abstract

As a flagship of China’s One Belt One Road initiative, China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is pivotal to China’s energy security owing to the growing row in the region of South China Sea among China and other regional and global players. The CPEC could bring economic avenues to Pakistan and can foster regional and cross regional economic and trade integration between South Asia, Central Asia, East Asia and West Asia. However, it is also surrounded by some serious challenges ranging from regional security environment, internal instability to political discontent among various political actors in the Pakistani polity.