About BRI

• China’s Belt and Road Initiative aims to strengthen Beijing’s economic leadership through a vast program of infrastructure building throughout China’s neighbouring regions.
• Launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, the plan was two-pronged: the overland Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road. 
• The project initially aimed to strengthen connectivity with Southeast Asia but later expanded to South and Central Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America.
• To date, 147 countries—accounting for two-thirds of the world’s population and 40 percent of global GDP—have signed on to projects or indicated an interest in doing so.
• The initiative has stoked opposition in some Belt and Road countries that have experienced debt crises.

Why in News?

• Italian Defence Minister said that Italy made an “improvised and atrocious” decision when it joined China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) four years ago as it did little to boost exports.
• Italy signed up to the BRI under a previous government, becoming the only major Western country to have taken such a step. 
• The BRI scheme envisions rebuilding the old Silk Road to connect China with Asia, Europe and beyond with large infrastructure spending. Critics see it as a tool for China to spread its geopolitical and economic influence.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/joining-chinas-belt-and-road-was-atrocious-decision-italy-minister/article67139460.ece#:~:text=Italy%20made%20an%20%22improvised%20and,an%20interview%20published%20on%20Sunday.