China’s Global and Civilizational Re-Balancing and India’s Options

Abstract

As China unfolds a new economic and foreign policy with its neighbors by promoting the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative (BRI), the revival of the ‘Silk Route Spirit’ that integrated regions economically and culturally seems imminent. India and China were at the Centre of civilizational and global rebalancing during ancient times; can they come together yet again after the centuries of Western dominance? The connectivity initiatives whether from China or India, no matter how grandiose or miniscule they are, could be considered parts of the globalization processes that would immensely benefit countries and regions? The symbiosis or metamorphosis of these processes is extremely important if the dividends of the globalization are to be achieved and shared. I argue that the BRI which is a re-globalization drive from the orient needs to dock itself with other similar yet smaller processes initiated by other countries and regions for example the ‘Sagarmala’ and ‘Bharatmala’ of India; Eurasian Economic Union of Russia etc. The metamorphosis into each other’s initiative may lead the BRI to success. India, needs to be an insider rather than an outsider of this value chain. It holds that the cooperation entails deeper integration among countries concerned, and will open vistas of opportunities in many diversified areas including trade, transport, tourism, as well as cooperation in traditional and non-tradition security.