- CPEC is a 15-year economic initiative spanning from 2015-2030, which focuses on expanding Pakistan’s energy sector, enhancing Pakistan’s infrastructure and establishing a direct land route connecting China’s northwestern region of Xianjing to Pakistan’s southern Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.
- China has strategically employed economic tactics to leverage its influence across South, Central and East Asia. Beijing may seize upon its economic opportunism in Pakistan to install a long-term military presence in the country and bring Islamabad closer into its fold, which would alarm U.S. policymakers and present a new set of challenges for an already tumultuous U.S.-Pakistan relationship.
- The U.S. has responded to China’s expansionism by enhancing its partnership with strategic allies in the region such as Australia, Japan and India. While CPEC may offer new investment opportunities for U.S. companies inside Pakistan, it may also circuitously bolster U.S.-India ties as both nations look to offset a rising China-Pakistan alliance.