Prime Minister, Chief Ministers and other Federal Ministers travel for Beijing to attend Belt and Road Summit

Prime Minister Nawaz is travelling to China to attend One Belt One Road gathering in Beijing. The PM office in a statement said that Prime Ministers along with Chief Ministers and other key Federal Ministers was travelling to China on an invitation from Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. The event in Beijing is a part of “Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21^st Century Maritime Silk Road”.

The Belt and Road Forum open this Sunday and will be attended by delegates from 27 countries. Apart from attending the event, Prime Minister will meet President Jinping and Prime Minister Keqiang. The meetings will focus on strengthening the bilateral partnership.

China has funded an amount of $40 billion into the Silk Road project and has been the driving force behind Chinese Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Although, the effort has been lauded by the beneficiaries of One Belt One Road Project, critics however are suspicious of Chinese intentions. The lack of transparency and non availability of details regarding the project has led to a degree of skepticism amongst the Western nations. However, with the rise of conservative and protectionist political narrative in the Western nations, China sees this opportunity as a gap to install herself as a champion for Global Trade and Partnership.

China has assumed a significant importance in the Global arena ever since Trump was elected into office. Statements from Asian diplomats argue that this is the right time for China to take advantage of leadership gap in world politics and push itself to the forefront as a torch bearer for Global Trade and Partnership.