New Silk Road in Pakistani perspective分析和总结最新分析和总结.docxVIP

New Silk Road in Pakistani perspective New Silk Road in Pakistani perspective By Dr Zahid Anwar Pakistan offers the critical overland routes and connectivity for mutually beneficial t rade and energy transactions intra-regionally and inter-regionally This article explores the prospects of the New Silk Road and its implications for Pakistan in its historical context. The Silk Road is a unique example from history of intercontinental cooperation and collaboration of not only trade and commerce but also in the realm of ideas and cultures. Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the civilisations of China, India, Persia, Europe and Arabia. The historical perspective of the Silk Road underlines the geo-economic value of Pakistan. In the Middle Ages, the Venetian merchant Marco Polo named the caravan routes silk roads. But it was a German researcher Ferdinand Richthofen who coined the term the Great Silk Road in his work, China, in1877. The Silk Road gets its name from the lucrative Chinese silk trade along it, which began during the Han Dynasty (206 BC — 220 AD). The Silk Road spanned a distance of about 11,000 km from China to Central Asia, northern India, the Parthian and Roman Empires during the period from 200 BC to 14th century AD. Various technologies, religions and philosophies travelled along the silk routes. Centuries ago, India was part of the Silk Road network. Pakistan was a gateway to South Asia on the old Silk Road and it was possible to travel from the Bay of Bengal (Calcutta) up the Grand Trunk Road and through the Khyber Pass into Central Asia. The Story Tellers’ Bazaar in Peshawar still resonates the comic and tragic narratives of the caravans that crisscrossed the Central Asian region. The traders and adventurers in their travel to Central Asia and vice versa experienced the agony of loss and ecstasy of gain. Silk was the main commodity in the list but paper, ivory, sandalwood, spices, horses, carpets, fruit, skins, vase