Geographical position of Pakistan Pakistan is a country composed of deserts, wetlands, plains, coastal belt, forested mountains, snow-capped peaks and coastal belt. On the eastern border of the country is India, the northeastern border of the country is shared by China, the country is bordered by Afghanistan to the west and northwest and by Iran to the southwest. west. Towards the southern coast of Pakistan lies the Arabian Sea. Pakistan has a total area of ​​approximately 796,096 square kilometers; Pakistan occupies a place of great strategic importance in Asia. Geopolitical and Geostrategic Importance of Pakistan Geopolitics or geostrategic refers to the field of study that examines the extent to which a country exploits its geography to achieve its political and strategic goals. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Although Pakistan has reaped many benefits from its important geostrategic position, it has also accumulated many losses for the same reason. For example, Pakistan has always witnessed huge investments because it is the gateway to the landlocked countries of Central Asia; it must also have suffered enormously from the global war on terrorism; Following the September 11 attacks and direct threats from then United States President George W. Bush, Pakistan felt it had no choice but to allow the United States to access landlocked Afghanistan; However, this decision backfired as Pakistan continues to pay the price of this decision to this day in the form of increased terrorism and loss of lives of its citizens. Pakistan-China relations paving way for CPEC Pakistan and China have always enjoyed close friendly relations. China has always supported Pakistan; especially, whenever Pakistan is threatened by India or the United States and China seek support from Pakistan. China and Pakistan have managed to maintain close relations despite changing times and circumstances. What is CPEC? The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is considered to be the brainchild of Chinese President Xi who introduced CPEC as the pilot project of the majestic One Belt and Road Initiative (OBOR), also known as China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). . The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), apart from CPEC, also includes five other international economic corridors, including: 1. The New Eurasia Land Bridge Economic Corridor was also known as the Second Eurasia Land Bridge. 2. The China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor. 3. China-Central Asia-West Asia economic corridor. 4. China-Indochinese Peninsula Economic Corridor. 5. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. 6. Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor. During a state visit to Pakistan in April 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented a “1+4” model of cooperation. According to this model, the first objective was to build the CPEC, with emphasis on the "1" in "1+4" cooperation model, while focusing on the construction of the Gwadar port, energy, basic infrastructure and industrial cooperation with emphasis on the “4” in “1+4” cooperation model. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a 3,000-kilometer network of roads, railways and pipelines intended to transport oil and gas from the port of Gwadar in southern Pakistan to the city of Kashgar, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China. Financial parameters associated with CPEC According to a report published in theFinancial Times, Sander and Stacey (2017) note that: • China's total investment: China plans to invest around $55 billion in Pakistan in lieu of CPEC. • Investment in energy projects: China plans to invest around $35 billion in various energy projects across the country. • Size of Chinese exports: The size of Chinese exports to Pakistan increased from $9.3 billion in 2012 to $16.5 billion in 2015. This rapid expansion in the size of exports is enough to give an idea of the increase that will be observed in the future. Benefits of CPEC for Pakistan Positive impact on GDP. According to an IMF forecast, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is expected to increase Pakistan's GDP by more than five percent by the end of 2020. Price Water House Coopers (PwC) predicts that if the CPEC plan is realized , implemented successfully, Pakistan's GDP will increase from the current $988 billion to almost $4.2 trillion by the end of 2050 (Hussain D., 2017). Deloitte predicted that for Pakistan, the total value of CPEC infrastructure projects would be equal to 17% of GDP (Hussain D., 2017). Job creation and local economic development. The creation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will certainly bring long-term economic and social benefits to Pakistan. In 2014, Pakistan's Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform released a long-term proposal for economic development which set 2025 as the target for transforming Pakistan from a lower-middle-income country to a middle-income country superior. To achieve this goal, Pakistan seeks to attract huge amounts of foreign aid. It is for this reason that the development of CPEC is particularly important. Once successfully implemented, CPEC would not only contribute to the economic development of Pakistan but also lead to the creation of a large number of employment opportunities. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is expected to create around 700,000 direct jobs between 2015 and 2030 and contribute around 2.5% to the annual growth rate (Shah, 2017). Eradication of religious extremism. An often cited reason for the creation of the CPEC is that it will bring economic prosperity to Pakistan, which will help eradicate the menace of religious extremism. Pakistan believes that rapid economic development facilitated by CPEC would help stabilize the economic, political and security situation in Pakistan. Disadvantages and risks associated with CPEC for Pakistan The debt trap. The risk is that CPEC will drag Pakistan into a debt trap from which it will never escape. It is estimated that once CPEC is fully operational, Pakistan will have to pay around $3.5 billion annually for 20 years. Khurram Hussain, a leading Pakistani economist, calculates these costs as follows: "Debt service outflows will be about $1 billion and return on equity will be $646 million it is maintained at 17 percent. Add to that 1.9% principal repayment. This means an annual net outflow of $3.546 billion once the corridor is fully operational” (Hussain, 2016). Another prominent Pakistani economist, Hafiz Pasha, has also expressed reservations over the amount of debt Pakistan will undertake to build CPEC. He estimates that CPEC debts would account for about $14 billion to Pakistan's total debts, bringing them to about $90 billion by the end of the year. financial year 2019 (Venkatachalam, 2017). What is more frightening to note is the fact that Pakistan has notstrategy prepared to repay China's growing debt burden, as Khurram Hussain wryly notes that when the IMF team asked Pakistani officials about their planned strategy to repay Chinese debt, Pakistani officials responded: "investments "Additional long-term Chinese capital, building on CPEC as a platform, could also help cover projected CPEC-related capital outflows." The risk of terrorism. One of the most significant risks facing the creation of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is terrorism. Terrorism has been a major concern in Pakistan for two decades. Terrorism has harmed Pakistan's economic growth and development prospects. Although Pakistan has fought a long and hard battle against terrorism, it has not yet succeeded in its fight. Given that CPEC is extremely important to the future of Pakistan's economic growth and national prosperity, there are concerns that construction sites and personnel working on these sites may become targets for potential acts of terrorism. Indeed, there have been several occasions when Chinese engineers working in Pakistan have become a target; many lost their lives in these attacks while many others were injured. In September 2016, Baloch separatists killed two Chinese engineers working in Balochistan and injured many others. Although Pakistani authorities have promised the safety of Chinese personnel employed by CPEC, this is only a short-term commitment. As time passes and the CPEC transportation network expands to remote areas, it will become difficult to ensure the safety of Chinese workers as the cost of security personnel and material support will also increase accordingly. So far, it is unclear how Pakistan will manage to ensure a strong military presence to ensure the security of transport routes. In this regard, no security plan has been presented by Pakistan. Unstable political system in Pakistan. A stable political system in Pakistan is essential for the success of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). One of the biggest problems Pakistan has faced since its independence is its unstable political system. Power in Pakistan continually oscillates between civilian and military leaders; this caused a lot of unrest in Pakistan. The resignation of President General Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan in 2008 was the last time a military ruler ruled the country, following the 2009 general elections; The Pakistan People's Party (PPP) came to power and completed the first five-year term of a civilian government. After the tenure of the PPP, the PML (N) came to power. For the first time in the history of Pakistan, the political landscape of Pakistan has become somewhat stable. However, Pakistan's past history dictates that the nature of Pakistani politics is uncertain and anything can happen at any time. This uncertain political culture could profoundly harm the future of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Benefits of CPEC for the stability of China's western periphery. China firmly believes that a secure and stable Pakistan would only be in its own interest. China believes that any assistance it would provide to Pakistan in the political, economic or security spheres would ultimately result in its own benefits. China hopes that the injection of money to boost Pakistan's economic development will not only reinvigorate Pakistan's economy through the construction of oil and gas pipelines and investment in infrastructure, and that all this will leadultimately to an internally stable Pakistan. Chinese logic is simple; China believes that stability can only be achieved through economic development. A healthy and stable Pakistan is essential for Chinese interests as it would ensure the stability of China's western periphery, particularly Xinjiang province. Help preserve Chinese interests in East Asia. China views CPEC in terms of its strategic advantages in East Asia and how the United States continually threatens them. China believes that a move to secure and expand strategic space by moving westward would help counter the threat of increased U.S. influence in the East. In this regard, Pakistan is of great importance to China as it can serve as a bridge between China, South and Central Asia and the region of greatest strategic importance, the Middle East. An internally stable Pakistan would help China exert much greater influence in these regions. This is one of the most important reasons why China is ready to invest large sums in Pakistan in the economic corridor. Disadvantages and risks associated with CPEC for China Risk imposed by cultural differences. The success of any joint venture between two entities, companies, organizations or countries, as in the case of CPEC, depends on how people work and interact with each other. At the heart of any successful business venture is the people, because they are the ones who have to do the work on the ground. The more people from both sides of the joint venture cooperate with each other, the greater the chances of success. As China and Pakistan expand cooperation on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and more Chinese companies begin to invest in Pakistan, the risks of cultural differences giving rise to misunderstandings may increase, which in turn could harm the success of CPEC. In order to operate successfully, the Chinese company must learn to behave and act in accordance with local norms, cultures and moral practices. It is essential for Chinese companies operating in Pakistan to have sufficient information to conduct business in Pakistan. To ensure the success of CPEC, the Chinese government must also abandon its old habit of dealing only with the Pakistani government and instead ensure that people connect and engage with local communities. CPEC and India's Dilemma The China-Pakistan Strategic Economic Corridor (CPEC) appears to have greatly threatened Indian interests. India fears that if the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project comes to fruition, it will shift power in favor of Pakistan and cause it to lose its position in the world (Kumar, 2016). Statements by various officials holding high-level positions in the Indian government confirm this fact. While responding to questions in the Lok Sabha in December, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj noted that "the government has taken cognizance of reports that China and Pakistan are involved in infrastructure construction activities in occupied Kashmir by Pakistan (POK), including the construction of China. Pakistan Economic Corridor. The government has expressed concerns to China over its activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and requested it to cease these activities” (Chandra, 2016). India's anger over CPEC appears to have been fueled by the fact that the route to the corridor passes through the disputed region of Kashmir. Kashmir has long been at the center of a conflict between.