China-Pakistan Silk Road's Upside for India

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- China's $46 billion plan to boost Pakistan’s economy will benefit rival India, says Anil Gupta, the Michael D. Dingman Chair in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “This is a plus (for India)," Gupta tells CCTV (scroll to “Anil Gupta on the China-Pakistan deals”). He says an economically improved Pakistan will be more stable and less susceptible to internal fragmentation. “Neither India nor China wants Pakistan to become fragmented or unstable," Gupta says. "India ought to welcome this development.”

Gupta says the biggest impact for Pakistan will be in the energy sector. “For Pakistan this is a very big deal," he tells CCTV, "particularly for the energy sector, which will increase energy capacity by 40 percent by 2018 under the new agreements.” Infrastructure investments will give an additional boost to Pakistan's economy, which has grown at about 4 percent each year for the past 10-plus years. "Infrastructure -- roads and rail -– is the foundation for building any economy, and this will equip Pakistan to grow at the needed, faster pace,” Gupta says.

He says China’s investment further incorporates Pakistan in its "Silk Road" land and sea routes to markets in the Middle East and Europe. Those routes cover India, the focus of Gupta’s recent book, The Silk Road Rediscovered.

Other commentators agree with Gupta's assessment of China's plan. From Reuters: The development “underscores China's global economic ambitions” and would “eclipse U.S. spending in Pakistan over the last decade.” Despite China-U.S. competition for influence across Asia, both nations could benefit from a more stable Pakistani government controlling militancy within its borders, Reuters reports.