India on Sunday boycotted China’s high-profile Belt and Road Forum, taking its protest over a controversial economic corridor traversing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) to a new level despite Beijing’s overtures to ensure New Delhi’s participation.
Following India’s boycott, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, taking a veiled swipe at New Delhi’s move, said the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was an economic project open to all the nations in the region and it “must not be politicised”.
No Indian official of any level was present at the elaborate opening ceremony attended by 29 heads of State and Government along with top officials of the world bodies like the UN, the World Bank and the IMF.
India skipped the meeting due to its sovereignty concerns over the
USD 50 billion CPEC, which passes through PoK.
Sharif, Sri lankan Premier Ranil Wickramasinge, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were among the world leaders who attended the meeting inaugurated by Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The US sent a delegation led by Matt Pottinger, special assistant to the President and senior director for Asia at the National Security Council.
China apparently saw India’s boycott coming as no seat was allotted to it at the high-tech Convention Centre during the opening ceremony telecast live. The event, however, was attended by a few Indian scholars representing think tanks, which took part in the group discussions.
Skirting any references to India’s absence at the meeting, Xi, in his address after inaugurating the Summit, said all countries should respect sovereignty.
“All countries should respect each other’s sovereignty, dignity and territorial integrity, each other’s development paths and social systems, and each other’s core interests and major concerns,” the 63-year-old leader said.
Xi said the Belt and Road initiative is “a project of the century” that will benefit people across the world.
Dismissing assertions that the initiative was aimed at forming a “small group” of nations taking part in the One Belt and One Road (OBOR) venture, Xi said China plans to build it as a road to peace and link his country to much of Asia, Europe and Africa.
“Pursuing the Belt and Road initiative, China has no intention to form a small group detrimental to stability,” as the pursuit of the initiative requires a peaceful and stable environment, Xi said.
Xi, in his address, pledged to pump in a whopping USD 124 billion for projects that are part of the ambitious venture.
In the run-up to the forum, China had sought to allay India’s concerns over the CPEC, saying that the project has no bearing on its stand on the Kashmir issue which should be resolved between India and Pakistan through dialogue.