India takes a dig at China, Pakistan as Xi Jinping celebrates 10 years of his BRI

New Delhi: Even as Beijing is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the launch of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), New Delhi on Tuesday subtly hit out at both Pakistan and China – respectively for blocking connectivity projects between India and Central Asian nations and for putting nations in debt-traps with predatory lending practices.

With Islamabad and Beijing likely to ink several deals for infrastructure projects under the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), New Delhi also stressed respect for the sovereignty and the territorial integrity of all the nations during the implementation of international connectivity initiatives.

India has been opposed to the CPEC, a flagship project of the BRI, as it passes through its territories illegally occupied by Pakistan.

With Beijing hosting Russian President Vladimir Putin and at least 19 other foreign leaders for the third BRI forum to celebrate the 10 years of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious but controversial cross-continental connectivity initiative, New Delhi also reached out to the five Central Asian nations. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval, met his counterparts from Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in Astana on Tuesday. The officials of the Embassy of Turkmenistan in Astana also attended the meeting.

Doval said that connectivity and economic integration with the Central Asian countries was a key priority for India. He, however, also added that while promoting connectivity, it was important to ensure that connectivity initiatives were consultative, transparent and participatory. They should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries. They should also adhere to environmental parameters, ensure financial viability and not become debt burdens, a source quoted him saying during what was the second meeting of the top security officials of India and the Central Asian nations.

Xi envisaged and articulated the BRI during visits to Indonesia and Kazakhstan in 2013. Beijing subsequently got 152 nations to sign agreements for the implementation of infrastructure projects, like the construction of highways, railways and power plants, obviously for execution by the state-owned companies of China. Italy – the only West European nation to sign the BRI deal with China – is likely to withdraw itself by March 2024. Beijing claimed that it launched nearly 3000 projects in Africa, Southeast Asia and South Asia over the past 10 years. New Delhi, however, did not join the BRI. The CPEC, a key component of the BRI, linked China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region and the port city of Gwadar in southern Pakistan. It covered the areas claimed by India as its own, albeit currently under the illegal occupation of Pakistan.

With a meeting between Xi and Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwar ul Haq Kakar, on the sideline of the BRI forum likely to see both China and Pakistan signing deals for more infrastructure projects as part of the CPEC, New Delhi subtly made it clear to both Beijing and Islamabad that the corridor undermined the sovereignty of India.

The BRI, however, triggered controversies around the world, primarily because several nations, particularly the poorer and smaller ones, landed into debt traps due to the predatory lending practices of China.

Doval told his counterparts from Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyz Republic that the absence of direct land access between Central Asia and India was “an anomaly”. The absence of direct connectivity was the result of “a conscious policy of denial by a particular country”, the source quoted the national security advisor telling his counterparts from the Central Asian nations. He, however, refrained from naming Pakistan, which had been accused by India in the past of blocking connectivity initiatives within the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). He added that this situation was not only self-defeating for “this country”, but it had also reduced the collective well-being of the entire region.

Pakistan played spoilsport within the SAARC and blocked several connectivity and regional cooperation projects proposed by India within the SAARC framework.