Participants at a two-day international conference on regional connectivity of South Asia explored the possibility of connecting one of the least integrated regions of the world, South Asia, and whether China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will be able to do so. They also explored the linkages between connectivity and stability, with one contributing to the other.

The conference “Regional Connectivity and Geo-Economics in South Asia” was organized on June 27-28 in Islamabad, and was well attended by scholars, journalists, academics, students, media, serving and former officials, besides speakers from India, Nepal, and China.

PIPS’s Director Muhammad Amir Rana thanked the participants and shared the rationale of the conference. He argued that even though South Asians can make immense economic gains, their region is one of the least integrated regions. Clearly, he said, “old rivalries still dog progress on any pursuit of connectivity.”

At the same, he outlined, countries in the region have signed up for at least one regional economic project; the most notable of which is China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Pakistan itself is a part of this project under the (CPEC); similar projects run through Bangladesh, Nepal, among others.