Belt and road initiative-Asean

Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), previously known as the One Belt and One Road (OBOR) initiative was announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. It goes by many names – Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) or the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR). It connects Eurasian landmass, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, Central Asia, Middle East, Europe.1 The road referring to the maritime connectivity and the belt refers to land route. However, it remains difficult to define what BRI really is, what projects come under its purview, what is the amount of funds being given, the length of the railway line to be laid down, or ports to be constructed. There is no department in China overlooking BRI projects and there is very little information available of the BRI website itself. However, some institutions associated with the Chinese government have suggested that there are more than 2000 projects underway1 . As information remains scarce, the number of countries part of BRI has exploded from 65 in 2013 to 126 in 2018. It has become a global initiative with aspects including “polar” and “cyber silk road as well.