The Asia-Africa Growth Corridor (AAGC) is a collaborative vision shared past times Bharat together with Nippon to create a growth corridor together with industrial network connecting Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern Asia together with Africa across the Indo-Pacific region. It has been seen every bit beingness aimed at “countering the Belt together with Road (the Silk Road Economic Belt together with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Initiative),” every bit at that spot is a high bird of overlapping inwards geographic coverage together with cooperation fields betwixt the AAGC together with the Belt together with Road Initiative. What’s proposed? Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has declared that Bharat together with Nippon would jointly prepare an Asia-Africa Growth Corridor together with a vision document of the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor Partnership for Sustainable together with Innovative Development was drawn up. In the document, it is pointed out that the AAGC volition survive instrumental inwards creating novel production channels, expanding together with deepening existing value chains, ensuring economical together with technical cooperation for enhancing capacities, facilitating a greater menstruum of people betwixt the ii continents, together with achieving sustainable growth over the longer term. The AAGC volition survive developed through lineament infrastructure together with complemented past times digital together with regulatory connectivity.
Although no detailed implementation procedures convey been made public, based on official documents released past times the governments of Bharat together with Japan, every bit good every bit the query findings of the intend tanks concerned, the chief content together with features of this first tin survive concluded every bit below:
Geographically, the AAGC covers the Indo-Pacific region, amongst special emphasis on “Maritime Asia” together with Africa. The AAGC claims to promote integration betwixt Asia together with Africa across the Pacific together with Indian Oceans.
Judging from the acquaint situation, Maritime Asia together with Africa are the priority areas for Nippon together with Bharat inwards their efforts to construct the AAGC. Maritime Asia refers to the maritime part extending from Northeast Asia, across Southeast Asia together with Southern Asia to West Asia.
With the growing importance of sea-lane safety inwards these regions, which look to convey move to a greater extent than vulnerable, Nippon together with India’s maritime safety concerns convey increased, leading them to elevate maritime safety cooperation.
Although at that spot is non much almost Maritime Asia inwards the Vision Document, it is indeed the telephone substitution champaign for these ii countries’ strategic coordination.
Since the Vision Document was released, cooperation betwixt the ii countries has farther deepened: for i thing, the progress PRC has made inwards port together with pier edifice inwards Maritime Asia has intensified India’s worries almost China’s so-called String of Pearls strategy, spell Nippon likewise fears that PRC volition jeopardize the maritime order.
China's dominance
The ii countries believe it is a must for them to jointly human activity to counter China’s “dominance”.
Africa is precisely about other telephone substitution expanse for the AAGC. In the Vision Document, many evolution together with cooperation programs focus on Africa, specifically contention for the complementarity of Bharat together with Nippon inwards Africa.
Although the U.S. considers the Indo-Pacific part every bit stretching from the W coast of Bharat to the western shores of the United States, according to Nippon together with India, Africa (especially East Africa) should likewise survive included every bit business office of the Indo-Pacific region.
The Vision Document outlines 4 pillars for the AAGC. These are evolution together with cooperation projects, lineament infrastructure together with institutional connectivity, enhancing capacity together with skills, together with people-to-people partnerships.
The argue people-to-people partnerships are a telephone substitution champaign are because emphasizing t these interactions makes it slow to claim the moral high solid set down together with ease other countries’ worries. People-to-people partnerships are likewise consistent amongst the respective economical evolution strategies of Nippon together with India, who would exercise goodness from the AAGC. And because these partnerships echo the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development together with Agenda 2063 of the African Union, they assistance to gain to a greater extent than back upward for the AAGC.
People-to-people exchanges include tourism, education, together with noesis promotion.
Policy Motivation
The AAGC is the resultant of a transition of Nippon together with India’s domestic policies. Also, it has emerged from these ii countries’ strategies inwards the Indo-Pacific region, together with suits both countries’ interests past times tapping their complementarity, together with jointly exploring the opportunities presented past times Africa’s development.
This AACG first likewise embodies their worries almost China’s Belt together with Road Initiative together with China’s striving to survive a maritime power.
China's One Belt, One Road Initiative
The strategic agreement betwixt Nippon together with Bharat has been upgraded to strategic coordination, which tin survive clearly observed from the AAGC. In recent years, it has move a strategic consensus that the Indian Ocean together with the Pacific Ocean convey turned into i integrated zone amongst geopolitical significance.
As ii of import powers inwards the Indo-Pacific region, Nippon together with Bharat convey been steadily enlarging their bilateral cooperation nether the Indo-Pacific framework, together with they convey fifty-fifty actively planned for multilateral cooperation amongst the U.S. together with Australia.
Prospects together with Implications of the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor
Despite the diverse obstacles that prevarication ahead, the AAGC is fountain to advance inwards the long term together with acquit on on China’s Belt together with Road Initiative to a sure enough extent.
As concerns almost PRC are an of import driver of the AAGC, the advance of the first volition inevitably convey competitive effects on China.
Despite China’s reiterations that it is committed to a path of peaceful development, every bit good every bit its commitment to fostering a novel type of international relations together with edifice a community amongst a shared futurity for mankind, which was delivered at the 19th CPC National Congress, the Japanese together with Indian governments convey non given whatever positive response.
The perception of PRC challenging the existing international guild has move a strategic consensus for the ii countries.
In Japan’s opinion, “China’s economical expansion inwards Africa is advancing at the expense of human rights together with proficient governance, together with is used to assemble back upward for Beijing’s center interests (from cross-Straits relations to expansion inwards the South PRC Sea), together with a revisionist international agenda.”
Therefore, the AAGC, which provides an option to the Belt together with Road, volition non survive easily abandoned past times the ii countries.
The United States, spell actively encouraging closer Japan-India relations, has likewise criticized PRC inwards its novel National Security Strategy: “China is using economical inducements together with penalties, influence operations, together with implied military machine threats to persuade other states to brain its political together with safety agenda. China’s infrastructure investments together with merchandise strategies reinforce its geopolitical aspirations.”
While the AAGC is probable to collide amongst precisely about Belt together with Road projects inwards its implementation, the possibility of cooperation betwixt the AAGC together with the Belt together with Road Initiative cannot survive only ruled out.
First, the geographical coverage together with the compass of the ii initiatives largely overlap. The possibility exists for China, Nippon together with Bharat to jointly advance precisely about evolution projects, particularly inwards low-sensitivity areas that line of piece of occupation organization people’s livelihoods, such every bit agriculture, medicine together with disaster relief.
Second, without appropriate guidance, the contest or fifty-fifty antagonism betwixt the ii initiatives is non inwards the interests of either side.
Conclusion
The AAGC is becoming a major pin for Japan-India strategic cooperation inwards Asia together with Africa.
Looking at the diplomatic adjustments of the ii countries inwards recent years, the AAGC is far from only an economical initiative, but a specific reflection of strengthened bilateral strategic coordination inwards the region.
Even though the specific planning for the AAGC has non even hence been unveiled, together with despite the multiple risks together with challenges its implementation mightiness encounter, the ii countries’ conclusion to advance the first is clear.
While the competitive effects of the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor on the Belt together with Road should non survive underestimated, PRC should avoid a zero-sum mentality.
On the contrary, it is necessary for PRC to closely follow the progress of the AAGC, hence it tin to a greater extent than actively elevate its policy communication to Nippon together with India, publicly vocalisation its ain concerns, together with explore the possibility of cooperation betwixt the Asia-Africa Growth Corridor together with the Belt together with Road Initiative.
The Asia-Africa Growth Corridor: Content, Motivation together with Prospects, Lou Chunhao, Associate Research Fellow together with Deputy Director of the Institute for Maritime Strategic Studies, PRC Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR).
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