Dynamics of Regional Geopolitics and Challenges to CPEC: The Afghan and Iranian Perspectives

Fakhar Hussain, Muhammad Ikramullah Khan, Sarfraz Hussain, Saadat Nawaz, Nisar Ahmad

Abstract
The concentration of global politics has been shifting from the West towards Asia due to China's substantial role in the continuing antagonism on the chessboard of international politics. The shifting embryonic paradigm of the region will challenge the status-quo showing a strategic change with severe ramifications for Pakistan in the evolving trends of security in South Asia. China’s enormous investment in CPEC is raising apprehensions from neighbors in the region, specifically by Indians, which is anxious about China's growing influence and its ambitions in the region of the Indian Ocean. China desires to contain India as it deliberates that the US and Indian desire to counteract China's presence in the Indian Ocean. In this way, there exists Indo-US nexus against China. The challenges to CPEC prolong from the existing regional paradox of security environment in Afghanistan to conflicting geostrategic interests of instant neighboring states like Iran and India. The spillover effects may destabilize the security environment of Pakistan and the region. The successful execution of the CPEC project depends on the region's geopolitical climate, precisely India's stance on the project and instability in Afghanistan. This research aims for analyzing dynamics of regional geopolitics and challenges to CPEC with respect to Afghan and Iranian perspectives. Despite of apprehensions, it is viewed as a win-win situation not only for Pakistan and China but also for Afghanistan and Iran as well as the entire region.

Key words: South Asia, Security Environment, New Great Game, Chahbahar, Hegemony.

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