India skips China meet over issue of sovereignty

Owing to sovereignty and ecological concerns, India on Saturday decided to skip the two-day Chinese mega show Belt and Road Forum (BRF) that gets under way in Beijing today.

Stating its position emphatically on the 'China-Pakistan Economic Corridor' (CPEC), projected as the flagship project of the multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), India said, "No country can accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity....Connectivity projects must be pursued in a manner that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity."

The official word came from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), after carefully vetting the formal invitation by China to participate in six separate forums being organised as part of the Belt and Road Forum.

The 3,000 kilometre long CPEC traverses through the Gilgit and Baltistan regions of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Besides, India also has strategic concerns as the CPEC connects China's Xinjiang to Pakistan's deep-water port in Gwadar, which is being exclusively built by the Chinese to serve as its future naval base.

Taking a hard stand, India also questioned the Chinese connectivity initiative on the universally recognised parameters of international norms, good governance, rule of law, openness, transparency and equality.

"Connectivity initiatives must follow principles of financial responsibility to avoid projects that would create unsustainable debt burden for communities; balanced ecological and environmental protection and preservation standards; transparent assessment of project costs; and skill and technology transfer to help long term running and maintenance of the assets created by local communities," the MEA said.

In an apparent message that it is not cowed down by the Chinese initiative, India stated the initiatives it has taken while pursuing the desire for enhancing physical connectivity in an equitable and balanced manner.

"Expansion and strengthening of connectivity is an integral part of India's economic and diplomatic initiatives. Under the 'Act East' policy, we are pursuing the Trilateral Highway project; under our 'Neighbourhood First' policy we are developing multimodal linkages with Myanmar and Bangladesh," said the MEA .

In an apparent reference to Chinese designs on Gwadar, India said, "Under our 'Go West' strategy, we are engaged with Iran on Chabahar Port and other partners in Central Asia on International North South Transport Corridor."

"Guided by our principled position in the matter, we have been urging China to engage in a meaningful dialogue on its connectivity initiative of 'Belt and Road Initiative'. We are awaiting a positive response from the Chinese side." it said.

The BR Initiative, signature foreign policy initiative of Xi Jinping, combines the Silk Road Economic Belt going overland to Europe across Asia, and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Route through the Indian Ocean to Europe, via the Suez or the Cape of Good Hope.

The decision of not to participate in the BRF Summit must have been very difficult for India as all the South Asian countries, barring the exception of India and Bhutan that does not have diplomatic relations with China, are part of the mega Summit.

Foreign experts of China claim that by being not part of the OBOR initiative, India faces the challenge of missing out a big trade initiative that even top economic powers like Russia, US, France, Japan and Germany have given a nod and are sending their high level delegations.

Ironically, Sri Lanka that was recently visited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepal, considered very close to India given the thick cultural ties, are also part of the mega Summit. Nepal formally signed the OBOR framework agreement just 48 hours before the Summit on Friday giving foreign policy experts in China to caution India not to miss the bus that it may relent later.

But what gives India hope is the list of attendees. It reveal that out of the 29 heads of State that are expected to attend the BRF, only 20 are from countries on OBOR route. The OBOR Initiative, a major playground for China's state owned enterprise (SOEs), is associated with 65-odd countries.

As many as 44 OBOR nations are not sending their top leaders to the BRF, and importantly, that includes all Middle Eastern nations and most of the European countries.