B3W apparently a copycat project of BRI, says experts at webinar

China Economic Net

Islamabad: The Build Back Better World (B3W) is apparently a copycat project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that has engaged 140 countries by now, experts said here at a webinar.

Speaking at a webinar, the experts said the B3W partnership of G-7 countries would take a long time to mature any outline of actual interventions.

Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) organized the webinar on the subject, “Biden’s G-7 Build Back Better World (B3W) and emerging situation in the region.”

The panelists included chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) chief and geopolitical analyst Lt. General Muhammad Asad Durani (retd), political activist and geopolitical commentator Reham Khan (London), geopolitical researcher Soumya Awasthi (Delhi) and chairman Centre for Diplomatic and Political Affairs Tolga Sakman (Istanbul).

The experts said the big question was where the huge money would come from whereas the G-7 nations and the private sector will not compromise their trade and economic ties with China.

The other big issue with the US is credibility. Now even the long-time allies don’t trust the US anymore blindly. Over the decades, the world has seen the US as a war monger looking for an enemy all the time. In the circumstances, the B3W seems to be merely a political propaganda against China, they added.

Devcom-Pakistan Executive Director Munir Ahmed hosted and moderated the webinar. While introducing the subject, Munir Ahmed said: “B3W is an apparent tool to challenge the deep-rooted BRI for obvious reasons. Through B3W, the G7 and other like-minded partners will coordinate in mobilizing private-sector capital in four areas of focus—climate, health and health security, digital technology, and gender equity and equality—with catalytic investments from the respective development finance institutions. As described, B3W will be global in scope, from Latin America and the Caribbean to Africa to the Indo-Pacific. Different G7 partners will have different geographic orientations, but the sum of the initiative will cover low- and middle-income countries across the world.”

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed the US had lost its credibility over the years. No one is willing to trust whatever plans the US offers in partnership with other developed countries.

At the moment, he said, the US was withdrawing from Afghanistan as a defeated country, and without any settled accord among stakeholders. The rise of the Taliban has increased the security concerns for the region. In this situation, no country is willing to trust G7 and the US. Pakistan has already refused the US for air-bases.

He said the new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has already strongly condemned the US approach towards Iran. “B3W will not be able to take off as a challenge to the BRI. Only India is expected to join it being the US ally against China despite its many economic interests associated with neighbouring China,” he added.

The Indian expert Soumya Awasthi said nothing was clear as to how B3W would compete with BRI or curtail China’s economic growth while the big question is where the money comes from?

“And why would the private sector invest in the social sector where the returns of the investment are not ensured. On the other hand, the G-7 countries did not work out anything post-COVID,” Awasthi said.

Lt General Asad Durrani (retd) said the US did not learn from its mistakes in the previous wars and armed conflicts. Another cold war in the region will be another big mistake while all the big countries in the region are against the US hegemonic interventions in the region, and somehow are part of the BRI and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

As many as five countries Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, China and Russia are on the same page and against the US except India, he said.

“They all are opposing the US and at any time they may come together to collaborate with each other against the US aggressive designs,” he added.

The Turkish expert Tolga Sakman said the B3W as a G7 partnership was not attractive to Turkey and it has many geopolitical flaws. “Turkey will not be against China in any case, rather Turkey will support by all means for regional connectivity and economic prosperity.”