STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS OF CHINA-PAKISTAN ECONOMIC CORRIDOR (CPEC) ON REGIONAL SECURITY DYNAMICS

Abstract

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as the flagship component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has evolved into a transformative geopolitical and geoeconomic framework reshaping the regional security environment of South Asia, Central Asia, and the Indian Ocean Region. This study critically examines the strategic implications of CPEC Phase II, which emphasizes industrial embeddedness, digital integration, maritime expansion, and military interoperability between China and Pakistan. The research highlights how the expansion of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), energy infrastructure, Gwadar Port development, and Afghanistan’s integration into regional trade networks have enhanced Pakistan’s economic and strategic significance. Simultaneously, these developments have intensified regional competition, particularly with India, which perceives CPEC as a challenge to its sovereignty, maritime interests, and regional connectivity ambitions. The paper further explores the evolving maritime security dilemma in the Arabian Sea, the militarization of Gwadar, and the implications of Chinese naval access for regional balance of power dynamics. It also evaluates the strategic retreat of India’s Chabahar initiative, the growing importance of Afghanistan as a geoeconomic pivot, and the broader responses of global actors, especially the United States and the Quad alliance. Additionally, the study assesses how CPEC has transformed the Kashmir dispute into a trilateral strategic issue involving China, Pakistan, and India. The findings suggest that while CPEC contributes to economic modernization, energy security, and regional connectivity, it simultaneously generates strategic dependencies, intensifies great-power competition, and introduces new maritime and territorial security challenges. Ultimately, CPEC represents both an engine of regional integration and a catalyst for geopolitical realignment in the emerging Asian security order