《ISAS_Working_Paper_No_197_New_Maritime_Silk_Road_08102016201601》.pdf

ISAS Working Paper No. 197 – 8 October 2014 Institute of South Asian Studies National University of Singapore 29 Heng Mui Keng Terrace #08-06 (Block B) Singapore 119620 Tel: (65) 6516 4239 Fax: (65) 6776 7505 .sg New Maritime Silk Road: Converging Interests and Regional Responses Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy1 Abstract The Maritime Silk Road (MSR) emphasises improving connectivity but more importantly, it is designed to improve China’s geostrategic position in the world. This paper discusses revival of the Maritime Silk Road. It begins with a narration of the historical background of MSR, its origin and development, followed by an analysis of latest announcements by the Chinese leaders to revive it. It also discusses reactions from China’s neighbours, including India. Finally, the paper sums up the discussion. It concludes that the MSR is an effort in initiating a ‘grand strategy’ with global implications. The MSR initiative could be very helpful in reinforcing cooperation and raising it to a new level of maritime partnerships. Nevertheless, China has yet to cultivate the much-needed political and strategic trust. 1 Mr Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy is Research Associate at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), an autonomous research institute at the National University of Singapore. He can be contacted at isasrrc@.sg. Opinions expressed in this paper, based on research by the author, do not necessarily reflect the views of ISAS. 1 Introduction The new Chinese leadership seems fairly optimistic in its effort to reshape the country’s global posture in a bold and creative way, a key element of which is to build an economic system t