The Balochistan tinderbox

As the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor begins to take shape, the troubled province of Balochistan could become a flashpoint for regional competition.

Could the Great Game in Asia shift from Afghanistan to Balochistan? According to watchers of the complex geostrategic region, including a former general of Pakistan’s army, it already has. With rising political tension in the region, brought to the fore by the ambitious China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the central players, Pakistan and China, are contending with many unexpected factors, including India.

China is investing $46bn in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor project, which aims to link western China to Pakistan's Arabia Sea with a network of road, rail and energy pipelines.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Chindia in Africa http://www.europeansources.info/record/chindia-in-africa/

Wikipedia: Balochistan, Pakistan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balochistan,_Pakistan

Aljazeera: Topic: Balochistan http://www.aljazeera.com/topics/subjects/balochistan.html

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