One Belt One Road is believed to be a way to extend Chinese help and influence to fight for regional poverty and developing the basic infrastructure. The four trillion USD estimated project isa well-thought-outmasterplan by China to establish itself as a world-leading economy and to spread its power, particularly in the South Asian region. China has already invested billions of dollars in several South Asian countries like Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to improve their basic infrastructure, with important inferences for both China’s trade regime as well as its defense beyond physical borders. The possibility of China creating hegemony in the South Asian region could lead to India’s encirclement and ensuingpartnership or even isolation.

When President Xi Jinping publicized the aspiring Belt and Road initiative, several international analysts and economical experts predicted that it might take years and perhaps decades before the initiative can be implemented. The CPEC was disclosed during President Xi’s visit of Pakistan in early 2015. It is a 46.5-billion-dollar mammoth plan to build a network of roads, railways, energy projects, business parks and related infrastructure to connect western China with Gwadar. Several projects are being implemented already.

Built by Chinese workers and opened in 2007, Gwadar is undergoing a major expansion to turn it into a full-fledged deep-water commercial port.The project received a major boost when control of Gwadar Port was transferred to China's state-owned China Overseas Ports Holding in February 2013. China plans to build oil storage facilities and a refinery at Gwadar Port, with oil transported to its Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region via road and pipeline. This will let it move energy and goods to inland China without going through the Strait of Malacca, which could be blocked by the U.S. or India.

Pakistan's Prime Minister and Army Chief accompanied by China's ambassador Sun Weidong inaugurates the Gwadar port to operationalize the trade activities. The cargo handling activities at Gwadar shows that it is becoming a reality much faster than imagined. Operationalization of Gwadar port showed Pakistan's commitment to the Belt and Road initiative. Experts consider that Belt and Road project integrates with Pakistan's future development plan-2025, which seeks to transform Pakistan into a hub of trade and commerce, harnessing its geo-strategic location into a geo-economic advantage. Pakistan is also trying to expand the CPEC to include countries like Iran so that it helps to integrate South Asia, China and Central Asia for greater economic opportunities.Pakistan and the Six Gulf Countries are located in the west intersection zone of the belt and road, which makes them important partners of China

Belt and Road is termed as a platform for win-win cooperation. CPEC provides the shortest route for China to export its finished goods to the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The Asian Development Bank terms the project as "CPEC will connect economic agents along a defined geography. It will provide connection between economic nodes or hubs, centered on urban landscapes, in which large amount of economic resources and actors are concentrated. They link the supply and demand sides of markets."It also provides a reliable alternative trading avenue for China in addition to existing ones. Full operationalization of CPEC would help China to save a lot of time and resources in its trade with the world.