This timely book on a controversial subject attempts to sum up the scope and ambitious scale of the BRI. It does not offer judgement nor copious detail, but shows how an infrastructure project now seems to be the basis of a China-centred global economic system

China’s large investments in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Maldives and the economic dependence this creates make it impervious to the internal political upheavals in these countries. This blog explores how it will retain its influence in Sri Lanka regardless of how the turmoil is resolved

The current political unrest in Sri Lanka and coups in Maldives and Zimbabwe bear a Chinese imprint. China’s use of strong-arm tactics smacks of the very behaviour that it had earlier criticised in former colonial powers

America’s withdrawal from a Cold War arms control agreement seems to be dictated by China’s development and deployment of thousands of short and medium range ballistic missiles.

Basing the global oil trade on the Yuan instead of the U.S. Dollar is one leg of China’s bid to convert its currency into the international reserve currency, replacing the dollar-dominated global financial architecture. But many factors impede the Yuan from reaching the maturity required for its global adoption.

President Vladimir Putin is in India on a two-day state visit to India, his third trip to India during Prime Minister Modi’s term. A key agreement that has just been signed is the $5 billion deal for the S-400 air defence system. However, U.S. sanctions on Russia’s top defence manufacturers will be a hurdle in closing this agreement, making payments to Russia difficult and scaring away potential Indian partners, especially those with investments in the West. Gateway House looks at India’s options for successfully concluding this agreement without falling foul of American sanctions.

China’s foreign direct investment is shifting away from natural resources to high-tech areas, such as Artificial Intelligence and robotics. The scale of these acquisitions, along with questions about intellectual property and national security, are causing widespread concern in the West

Pakistan’s upcoming general election is an example of a slow-motion coup without the accompanying violence as the military deposes an inconvenient prime minister with a more pliable candidate

The high cost and political impact of Chinese-funded infrastructure in countries like Myanmar, Malaysia and Sri Lanka make it imperative for India to work with Japan to provide alternatives, to ensure that the region is neither bankrupted nor militarised by Chinese influence.

China’s ostensible intentions are to turn Gwadar port into a focal point of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. But the geography of the region is a major stumbling block in the realisation of these ambitions and raises questions about the project’s underlying motives