The general spirit of the Silk Road news this week is one of overriding focus on geopolitical issues and what roles these issues play in the geo-economics of the New Silk Road. The most important news of the week is the ‘informal’ meeting between Modi and Xi Jinping. A Forbes article [How China Is Positioning Itself Among India's Top 10 Investors Despite Bilateral Differences] unpacks the context of this meeting. It highlights the fact that despite China and India’s geopolitical differences, “economic ties have been steadily growing over the years between the two countries. China ranks among the fastest-growing sources of foreign direct investment in India”. China is also the biggest trade partner of India. Both countries, the article observes, have come to the realization that a position of hostility undermines their interests, especially in today’s world where numerous global geopolitical tensions are unfolding rapidly.
Addressing one of these tensions, The Hill article [Trump's trade policy leaves China wide open on its path to dominance] warns that in the competition between the Trumpian vision of ‘America First’, which might have some short-sighted success, and the Chinese New Silk Road, which engages many countries, “the U.S. is losing its geopolitical battle with China”. One of the major causes for this stark warning or analysis is that this Trumpian vision is based on what makes the local narrow concerns of Trump’s constituency relevant and also what brings Trump himself personal adoration.
M. Forough
This week's Silk Road Headlines
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