Will continue to oppose Belt and Road: India

Though China enshrined the Belt and Road Initiative in its constitution, India will continue to oppose the ambitious plan even as several other nations of late echoed its views on connectivity
projects.

Two days after the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party concluded after enshrining President Xi Jinping’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar on Thursday indicated that New Delhi would remain firm in its opposition to the mega-connectivity plan.

“We have the silk road. We probably have more ownership on the silk road than anybody else, even if... we lost the branding on the route. But the point is that we have a certain view of how connectivity projects should come about,” Jaishankar said.

India has long been opposing China’s Belt and Road Initiative, arguing that the connectivity initiatives must be “based on universally recognised international norms, good governance, rule of law, openness, transparency and equality”.

India has said that China embarked on the cross-continental connectivity initiative without broad consultations with other nations and stakeholders.

“So, what we laid out earlier in the year was our viewpoint and at that point there were concerns that we are getting isolated,” the foreign secretary said.

He was referring to the concerns expressed by some about the possibility of New Delhi being isolated due to its opposition to the pet project of Chinese President.
DH New Service