All through the months of April and May this year, many of the Indian National dailies reported that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor is actually a security threat for India. Taking on the liberty, let us examine the claims of these newspaper dailies.

China has been ‘an all weather friend of Pakistan’. The all weather is metaphor for financial aid that can come to Pakistan any time of the year. Today, almost half of the total Chinese foreign aid goes to Pakistan only. Off recently, China is investing 62 billion US dollars in Pakistan in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor is a multi-modal economic corridor that consist of energy, infrastructure, port development and railway line construction. The importance of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor lies in the fact that China hails it as the flagship programme of the One Belt One Road initiative. CPEC is a link between the Road and Maritime dimensions of this project.

CPEC however, looms in on the sovereignty and security of India. The corridor connecting Gwadar in Pakistan to Kashgar in China not only passes through India’s territory but also pose a threat to country’s sovereignty. The region - Gilgit and Baltistan - from where it passes are an integral part of the territory of India which is unlawfully held by Pakistan. It clearly establishes the fact that the CPEC is violative of India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, further confirmed by a spokesperson from the Ministry fo External Affairs. Any sound connectivity project should be based on universally accepted and recognised international norms, should be transparent and equality based, uphold rule of law and last but not the least, should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the participating and the neighbouring countries. This does not fare well with China, the country who is so sensitive towards its territory and exhibiting insensitivity towards territorial integrity of its neighbouring country which is also one of its largest trading partner. The same posture was articulated in the Raisina Dialogue 2017 by India’s foreign secretary S. Jaishankar.

Since the inception of the corridor, the People’s Liberation Army, PLA, has maintained its presence in the area. The concentration of PLA troops is only on an upwards swing exhibiting rising militarisation of the area. Further, the greater presence of Chinese troops in Pakistani soil can be seen in the fact that the Chinese troops marched in the parade outside its country in Islamabad. It is estimated that People’s Liberation Army has deployed some 30000 soldiers under local name in Pakistan. Presence of Chinese military in Pakistan does not fare well with Indian security on its western borders.

Another important threat to Indian internal security comes from the sea. The Pakistani naval officials have also accepted that Chinese naval ships would be deployed at Gwadar in cooperation with the navy of Pakistan for the safeguard of port and trade under this corridor. As a goodwill gesture from the Chinese side, some eight submarines have been delivered by China to Pakistan. The Chinese encircling of India is a severe security threat for India. Gwadar is becoming a second naval base of China after Djibouti in 2017. This naval base in Gwadar is hardly 70 kilometres from Chabahar where India has invested worth 500 million US dollars. This naval base of China is severe security threat for India’s western states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, both being hardly 400 nautical miles away.

A greater security threat has been very recently confirmed by Centre for Advanced Defence Studies, a Washington DC based non-profit organisation. The organisation revealed that with around 60 billion USD worth investment by China, Pakistan is burdened by ever burgeoning debt that is imperilling the country’s long-term economic viability. An economically failed neighbour does not go down well in the books concerning Indian security threats. The youth there will be unemployed and will become easy targets for the terror camps operating in the country. These terror camps will transform them into terrorists which pose a serious danger for Indian internal security.

Further, with huge amount of loans and also the high rate of interest, the assets of the country i.e. Pakistan will be remain under Chinese control for a long time. The similar misadventure was faced by Sri Lanka where China has taken over Hambantota port in lieu of non-payment of loans by the Sri Lankan government. Militarisation of these leased assets a serious threat to Indian internal security. Future does not look bright for Pakistan with debt of nearly 72 billion dollar or 70% of their GDP, Current Account Deficit being higher than 120%. A country on the verge of bankruptcy, Pakistan will easily bend over to Chinese control over the borders and affect the security of India.

Thus, China Pakistan Economic Corridor itself establishes as an unblemished good for China and a bane in disguise for the Pakistani Awam. The various dimensions of the corridor such as maritime encirclement of India, failure of Pakistani economy, violation of Indian territorial security and sovereignty, Chinese military presence in Pakistan are all severe threats for Indian security in the region.