Mint Explainer: Why the outcome of China's latest BRI Forum should please India
Mint explains why the outcome of the meeting may be good news for India. It's a highly ambitious project is aimed to building infrastructure and connectivity across Asia, Europe and Africa in an effort to reconstruct 21st century versions of a terrestrial and maritime silk road. Many observers saw the project as an effort by China to export its surplus capacity in construction and other fields to foreign nations while also linking their markets to China’s economy.
“China’s overall ambition for the BRI is staggering. To date, 147 countries—accounting for two-thirds of the world’s population and 40% of global GDP—have signed on to projects or indicated an interest in doing so," wrote the Council on Foreign Relations, a US think tank. The forum began in 2017 as a meeting of major leaders who have signed on to Beijing’s scheme, and was intended to showcase the achievements of the BRI.
The presence of high-level leaders also provided China with favourable optics. In 2017, around 27 world leaders visited Beijing for the first edition of the forum. In 2019 that number stood at 37.
However, only 23 world leaders participated in the third forum on 18 October. Experts say that the drop in attendance at the third forum points to the declining popularity of the BRI. High-profile failures, allegations of ‘debt-trap diplomacy’ and China’s increasingly negative international reputation may have scared some leaders away.
This is especially true in Europe, where a number of Eastern European countries were once seen as enthusiastic participants in the BRI. Italy, a member of the G7, is also expected to leave the BRI. Hungary, an EU member state, attended the summit.
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