Tailspin

The Politics of India-China Economic Relations

Aravind Yelery, Mrudul Nile

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781032139562
• eBook ISBN: 9781000482041
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Regional Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

In recent decades, Asia's ascent has been contextualized as the rise of two major neighboring countries in Asia – India and China. Besides voluminous work on the prospects and convergences between the two, currently they stand at an intersection of time where suspicion and mistrust veils the confidence. A degree of uncertainty arises from the more profound paradoxes, and India has been falling short in escaping the tailspin China has created in the bilateral, regional and global economic dynamics.

India's China relations is not just about boundaries and boycott of Chinese products. The root of the relationship lies in deficiency of trust, knowledge, and repository of experts on China. To deal with India's China Tailspin effectively, one must know and comprehend China thoroughly. This book brings out several aspects of India's political-economic relations with China on the table. The book underlines the fact that while leveraging China's inherent contradictions, India has to deleverage from China's subtle global aspirational designs of domination.

Besides analyses on leadership, state capitalism, and geo-economics, the book describes special cases such as the Trade War, Structural Conflicts in Chinese Political Economy, Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor, WTO negotiations, Maritime trade, Belt and Road Initiative, and Taiwan to better elaborate the stakes involved in dealing with China. The recent boundary tension created a long tailspin, which in turn set off a raucous debate over China's economic diplomacy and how India could comprehend it well.

Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Section IV

Regional and Global Context

10. Bilateral Challenges vs Multinational Prospects: Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor

Samir Sharma

Introduction

This chapter broadly examines the proposed Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM EC). It (i) introduces economic corridors as an attempt to re-design geographies primarily through connectivity, (ii) briefly discusses various economic corridors as potential engines of growth in Asia, (iii) discusses the proposed BCIM EC project in India with reference to West Bengal and the Northeast region, and (iv) attempts to locate the prospects and limits of the project. The chapter concludes that economic corridors such as the BCIM EC will find it difficult to overcome and reconcile concrete bilateral political and economic issues between India and China despite a visible transformation in the narrative and conceptualization of border regions.

Economic Corridors: Re-designing Geographies through Connectivity

The definition of what best describes an economic corridor is unclear but Brunner (2013) gives us a broad understanding that launches the manipulation of geography (or physical space) at its heart as follows.

Economic corridors connect economic agents along a defined geography. They provide connection between economic nodes or hubs, usually centered on urban landscapes, in which large amount of economic resources and actors are concentrated. They link the supply and demand sides of markets. (Brunner 2013: 1)

Additionally, this ‘corridor approach’ attempts to benefit from the ‘existence of proven, inherent and underutilized economic development potential within the region’ with other economic advantages (Brookings India 2013). Karim and Islam (2018: 291), drawing from various sources, are of the view that economic corridors might be ‘national’ such as the Golden Quadrilateral, ‘territorial’ like the GMS and Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation, or ‘universal’ which is exemplified by submarine telecommunications cable networks (De & Iyengar 2014). Factors such as national or regional range of corridors and the extent to which they are ‘narrow or broad’, i.e. the degree to which there is a dynamic cohesion between the highway and the zones near it, are also important (Srivastava 2011). Corridors are conceptualized as assemblages manifested through ‘top-down or bottom-up’ based activities, official assortments symbolizing the presence and activities of government, global development agencies as well as business and civil society associations (Wiemer 2009). Finally, other factors such as ‘distributive equity, political populism, and security prerequisites’ could also affect the design and location of the corridor.

Whatever might be the understanding of economic corridors, it seems that the concept of connectivity of multiple geographies is central to the idea. Space, however, is not a neutral category. As theorists of territoriality and economic geography have indicated, physical space and geography are a complex manipulation of their historical and emotional aspects that have intertwined not only cultural and social aspects, but also concrete issues concerning the political imagination(s) of that geographical space (Penrose 2002). Similarly, Storey (2001) also opines that through the application of micro-scale territoriality, certain spaces in the urban areas or domestic contexts are re-designated. Re-designation or re-imagination is a complex process and it is further compounded by the fact that many economic corridors are also multinational ventures that cut across the artificial boundaries of the modern state. Drawing from these sources it is my contention that the idea of economic corridor is one illustration of such a re-designation. In other words, corridors are particular manifestations of re-imaginations of a defined physical space. Not only are they re-imaginations, but they are also a prioritization of certain aspects of that physical space over others’ characteristics. It is seen that many times, such prioritization and re-imagination takes into account the various aspects of territorialities. In such cases there is the possibility of a creative syncing of economic, historical, cultural, social and political elements in the imaginations of the physical space. While at other times, concrete disjuncture arises which threatens the very existence of such re-imaginations. When one re-imagines physical space as economic or trade corridors, one must examine what aspects of that space are articulate and obvious and, what remains inarticulate and intangible. With this view in mind this chapter looks at the necessity and desirability of economic corridors in Asia taking the BCIM EC as a case in point. With its focus on multinational South Asian corridors (especially in China and India) the chapter posits the crucial question: Can the promise and prospect of economic corridors overcome and reconcile political issues? For this purpose, the prospects and challenges of the BCIMEC project is taken as an indicative study. Inputs and insights from other projects will also be utilized to confirm the conclusions.

Economic Corridors as Engines of Growth in Asia

Asia has a huge infrastructure funding requirement of about US$ 26 trillion (ADB 2017) and multinational economic corridors are fast emerging as the new mantra for sustaining its economic growth. In the case of China, the six corridors, namely China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC); New Eurasian Land Bridge (NELB); China-Central and West Asia Economic Corridor (CCWAEC); China-Indo-China Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC); China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC); and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM EC) are considered to be crucial. Similarly, in India the Delhi-Mumbai Economic Corridor, India-Myanmar-Thailand road link, the proposed Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement and the standard operating procedure (SOP) for coastal shipping between India and Bangladesh are important. Interestingly only in the case of the BCIM EC is there an opportunity for China and India to cooperate directly on areas of commercial connectivity with state/regional governments in the respective countries which are poised to play a crucial role. However, several factors like national security concerns, ethnic unrest and hesitation on the part of the respective governments have contributed to the slow development of the BCIM EC. In particular, two factors have been critical here. First, China’s financial contribution in the BCIM Forum which aroused suspicions of ‘geo-strategic and economic interest’ with respect to access to the Bay of Bengal region, and second, the involvement of China’s southwestern Yunnan province in the BCIM EC project (Karim & Islam 2018).

The proposition that economic growth in Asia has become a hostage to geographic peripherality, geo-economics and geo-politics has been well argued by scholars such as Das and Thomas (2018). Asian Development Bank (ADB) was instrumental in the establishment of various economic corridors as well as the development of the concept (ADB 2007, 2010, 2011). For ADB, corridors are conceptualized as a holistic means to improve and enhance investments in the fields of transport, energy, and telecommunications. It is assumed that an efficient transportation system results in the increased and sustained mobility of goods and people, while minimizing costs or inadvertent delays. This, therefore, is expected to lead to economic growth and development, as well as reduction of poverty in those regions. Major growth zones in the Asian region comprise of the South China Growth Triangle, the Growth Triangle comprising of Johor state in Malaysia, Singapore and Riau islands of Indonesia, the Greater Mekong Sub-region Growth Triangle, and the South Asian Growth Quadrangle (Rahman et al. 2007: 2). With the development of China-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), corridors have acquired global significance which resulted in the development of ‘three new gateways’, Khorgos for the New Eurasia Land Bridge, Kashgar for the China-Pakistan Corridor, and Kunming for the BCIM and the Indo-China Peninsula corridors (Gill et al. 2019).

Sahoo and Bhunia (2014), who survey several empirical studies on economic corridors, argue that most projects help improving transport facilities and infrastructure that impact the socio-economic development of other regions and sub-regions in the Asian context. Greater Mekong region has positively impacted the economic development of the region. Since there are some historical and cultural continuities along with institutional overlaps between the BCIM EC and the GMS projects, it was thought to be possible that similar impact could be ac...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• List of Contributors
• Section I: Setting the Tone
• Section II: Perspectives on the Chinese Economy
• Section III: India and the Chinese Economy
• Section IV: Regional and Global Context
• Section V: Conclusion
• Index