 In Beijing, 49 countries met on the 14th and 15th of May to participate in the One Belt, One Road Summit, now renamed as the Belt Road Initiative. The heads of states or government leaders represented 28 of these countries. The implications of this massive project are far-reaching. The historical silk route connected the entire Eurasian landmass and was the major route of trade for silk, spices, glassware and many other goods. The Belt Road is planned along this route. It is a combination of rail and road corridors and is seen as a set of economic corridors. One Road is the 21st century maritime silk road and plans to connect China with Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Before the rise of colonial powers, 90% of the world's trade was over land. Global trade today is controlled by the United States and the erstwhile colonial powers threw their control on the ocean and sea routes. This control is asserted by military control over the seas and control over a host of services starting from insurance. A number of countries see the Belt Road Initiative as a way of integrating their economies and increasing trade and infrastructure development. The Belt Road Initiative covers countries whose combined population is about two-thirds of the global population and a little more than a quarter of its GDP. These countries need very large investments in infrastructure, in railways, roads, electricity, gas and all pipelines as a motor of their development. Therefore, their interest in the initiative. If their banks and financial institutions can fund these developments, it will also provide an outlet for their infrastructure development companies. Also, an outlet for Chinese steel, cement and heavy industries. Unfortunately, India has looked at the Belt Road Initiative through the prism of China's relationship with Pakistan. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the linking of Xinjiang to the Guadalport. India has made the Belt Road Initiative entirely an issue about Kashmir through which the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passes. It refused to look at the larger economic picture. As a result, India is isolated from the Belt Road Initiative in which a huge number of infrastructure projects would be implemented. For global trade, China is the much bigger piece. Its economy is five times the size of India. For India, isolating itself economically from what could be a very important reworking of global trade could have long-term consequences. For the rest of Eurasia, not so much.