The hardening of stand on air corridor comes close on the heels of China denying entry to 47 Indian pilgrims who were scheduled to travel to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim
Amid growing tensions in bilateral ties, China, besides denying entry to Indian pilgrims to Kailash Mansarovar, has also taken exception to the new air cargo corridor between India and Afghanistan that allows them to trade goods bypassing Pakistan.
China’s leading state-run Chinese newspaper Global Times on Monday described the air corridor as “exhibiting India’s stubborn geopolitical thinking” to counter Chinese ambitious $54 billion economic corridor that runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
Raising a question mark on the proposed routes between India, Afghanistan and Iran, the article said, “Will India bypass Pakistan to develop trade with Afghanistan and other Central Asian countries?”
Earlier in May, India had snubbed China by skipping Chinese mega show of Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing. Stating its position emphatically on the ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’ (CPEC), a key part of Belt Road Initiative (BRI), India had raised serious objections on its route. The CPEC traverses through the Gilgit and Baltistan region of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) which India considers its integral part.
“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,”India had said.
The hardening of stand on air corridor comes close on the heels of China denying entry to 47 Indian pilgrims who were scheduled to travel to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet through the Nathu La pass in Sikkim.
Though Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Geng Suhang said in Beijing on Monday that they were in touch with India over the denial of entry to Indian pilgrims he declined to elaborate if the Indian pilgrims were stopped by the Chinese officials due to inclement weather or there was some other reasons.
However, according to informed sources, the Chinese refusal has something to do with growing tensions between two countries that also led to a face-off between troops of the two countries in Doka La general area of Sikkim along Sino-Indian border.
China had first denied entry to Indian pilgrims on June 19 when they were scheduled to travel to Kailash Mansarovar by crossing over to the Chinese side. After waiting at the base camp they again tried to cross on June 23 but were denied permission.
The face-off between the troops of the countries is apparently going on for close to two weeks now.
“The possibility of cooling down of tempers between the two countries looks difficult in immediate future as the reason for tensions lies in a host of issues like CPEC, India’s NSG bid and repeated veto by China to block attempts to declare JeM chief Masood Azhar as a UN-designated terrorist.”
“China is apparently also not happy with India’s initiatives to forge trade and strategic alliances with the neighbourhood, be it with central Asian countries or the Act East initiative in south east Asia. It would need a bigger initiative at the top level to give room to each other,” a senior official said
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