THIS is with reference to reports ‘Biden suggests rival plan to Belt and Road’ (March 28) and ‘US-China tensions carry seeds of war, warns Kissinger’ (May 1).

US President Joe Biden has suggested founding an initiative by ‘democratic’ countries to rival China’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, as tensions increased between the Asian giant and Western nations.

It is rather wishful thinking on the part of the West to undertake a matching initiative to rival China’s global footprint.

Henry Kissinger fears that US-China tensions might engulf the entire world, and may possibly lead to a clash between the two military and technological giants.

It is hoped that better sense will prevail, and the next-tier world powers would play their role in helping maintain a constant dialogue and multi-channel communication between the US and China in the best interest of global peace, security and progress.

It is imperative that we all maintain our guard; this new cold war can lead us to some unimaginable disaster.

Abbas R. Siddiqi
Lahore

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2021