Dialogues will reduce initiative's risks

The vision of China's Belt and Road Initiative evokes the ancient trading networks along the Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road, encompassing more than 70 countries and reaching beyond, connecting China's transport and communications infrastructure network across Central, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Eastern Europe. These regions include some of the most fragile ecological systems in the world today and some of the most dense population concentrations.

In this era of global volatility the probability of crisis and conflict in areas along the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road cannot be dismissed, and must be anticipated. Most crisis and conflict situations arise through a series of sequenced circumstances or events, and do not occur overnight. Recognizing early warning signs while there is elasticity for action is important for avoiding a crisis.

The United Nations' 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals can serve as a reference framework for development in the Belt and Road region in addressing conflict at its root rather than effect. The key to successfully preventing conflict is to offer communities the tools that they themselves can use to resolve their own crises, instead of relying on external intervention.