China is cautiously increasing its role in South Asia by rejuvenating economic interests in Pakistan and forging closer ties to Afghanistan with peace talks between Afghan officials and the Taliban under way. Some analysts believe that Pakistan’s internal security problems could threaten Belt Road Initiative projects. “Increasingly, China risks becoming a target in the region,” said Research Fellow Abdul Basit, an expert on South Asian insurgent groups at RSIS in Singapore. “But China has the support of the Pakistani military and its own channels in the region, so these types of threats are unlikely to stop Beijing from [pursuing] its goals.”