China Pakistan Economic Corridor:Socio-Economic Prospects And Challanges

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC)—the latest venture in the bilateral economic cooperation,with the investment of $46 billion in energy and infrastructure development in Pakistan—is considered to be a game changer in the economy of Pakistan.CPEC is the flagship project of Belt and Road Initiative(BRI),the economic corridor will connect Kashghar in Xinjiang with the Gawader port in the Arabian Sea,a gateway to the Middle East,Africa and Central Asia.The CPEC,will boost Pakistani economy as well as fulfill Chinese energy demands through a shortest and safer route,likely to bring stability in the region through economic integration.The thesis discusses in detail the Sino-Pak bilateral relations,the CPEC socioeconomic prospect for Pakistan and China,the geo-political importance of Gawader port the interests of various regional and extra-regional actors.Beside the prospects of the mega project,faces obstacles that have the potential to affect the implementation of the project.These dynamics including the instability in Afghanistan,competing interests of immediate neighbors like India and Iran and the U.S.concerns about the initiative.This research draws from wide range of scholarly peer-reviewed literature,academic journals,think-tank reports and government sponsored studies.Missing from their analysis,the socio-economic prospects,consideration of geo-political dynamic,domestic challenges of Pakistan that can affect the implementation of the project.This thesis seeks to address that gap and provides policy recommendations for Pakistan to deal with potential impediments in the implementation of the project.