Belt and Road Disputes

Abstract

This article deals with a relatively newer topic of belt and road disputes which have arisen from belt and road initiative of the Chinese government. Often called as the modern silk road, the belt and road initiative or the one belt one road project is an ambitious Chinese project to facilitate trade and commerce in not only China but the whole of South eastern and Central Asia. Given the vast nature of the plan along with the ever-going politics in this region, it was not a cake walk to bring together countries to invest their resources or give their land for this project. This article details with various aspects of this initiative - in light of the opportunities it would bring in for the region and also in light of the disputes which arise from time to time in making this project a reality. The article discusses the mechanisms which are deployed by the countries involved for solving their problems. The mechanism of arbitration has been dealt with in great detail. commercial, trade, economy I. INTRODUCTION TO BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a much-hailed project by China to link the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe by roadways and waterways by six corridors with the purpose of increasing regional integration, trade and commerce and improving the economic growth rate of the region. This name was put forth in the year 2013 by China's President Xi Jinping.2 He had derived the idea of BRI from the ancient Silk Road which was established during the Han Dynasty's rule around 2,000 years ago. The Silk road was an ancient roadway or rather several roadways which connected China to the Mediterranean region via Eurasia for several centuries. The original Silk Road came into existence during the expansion of China's Han Dynasty which had trade relations throughout the Central Asia that is the countries of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan and the modern countries of India and Pakistan in South East Asia. The entire route spanned around a 1 Author is an Advocate at Delhi High Court, India. 2 Andrew Chatzkey and James McBride, "China's Massive belt and road Initiative", Council for Foreign Relations (November 27, 2020, 01:07 am) China's Massive Belt and Road Initiative | Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org) 2020. International Journal of Integrated Law Review