New Spice Road, Regional Rival to the New Silk Road

With the Belt and Road Initiative, China is at the forefront of players seeking regional links and connectivity between Asia and Europe. However, China’s presence in this arena is not exclusive, and the competition for infrastructure across Eurasia is multifaceted. India is another Asian giant that has quietly entered the mega-infrastructure projects of this supercontinent, seeking to revive the dormant plan for a north-south international transport corridor. The New Spice Road is a metaphor that narrates India’s resurgence and its competition with China for control of the routes for the movement and transportation of goods and energy. The aim of this article is to explore India’s main motivations and objectives for the revival of the North-South International Transport Corridor (New Drug Route) after nearly 15 years of its inception. The article shows that India’s efforts to rebuild the North-South International Corridor and promote the New Drug Route are primarily focused on security goals and motivations, including confronting the changing situation in Jammu and Kashmir in Pakistan’s favor; denying opportunities for China's geopolitics-geostrategy in the Indian Ocean region; creating a gap between Pakistan and its neighbors, especially Afghanistan; and geopolitical linkage with its new partners in Central Asia and the South Caucasus through Iran.