‘India will not sign off on BRI at Bishkek’

The Indian Express
June 13, 2019

India will not sign off on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitious project, the Belt and Road Initiative, though the rest of the leaders at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit will “reaffirm their support” for the project in the Bishkek declaration, The Indian Express has learnt. The declaration will be issued on Friday evening.

Sources told The Indian Express that Delhi has once again decided to stay away from endorsing the One Belt One Road project. “All other SCO members have supported the BRI. They recently attended the second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in Beijing in April. But we will not sign off on BRI at the summit,” a top source said.

India had refused to sign off on the BRI last year at the SCO summit in Qingdao, China, but New Delhi had not issued any statement opposing BRI this year when the second Belt and Road Forum met in April. In 2017, when the first Belt and Road Forum took place in May, India had issued a very strong and critical statement.

This time, as the issue of listing of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar was being negotiated and Beijing was being persuaded by Delhi, Washington and other countries, Delhi had chosen to remain silent and not articulate its opposition to the Belt and Road Forum. However, India had made it clear even then that they were not changing their position on BRI. The same approach continues, although the Chinese side tried to persuade India to change its attitude before the summit.

India’s statement in May 2017 was very clear in its opposition to BRI, and the Ministry of External Affairs had said connectivity projects must be pursued in a manner that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity. Regarding the so-called ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’, which is being projected as the flagship project of the BRI/OBOR, the MEA had said, “No country can accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Sources said the SCO’s Bishkek declaration will be on the lines of the last summit, when it had said, “Reaffirming their support for the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Member States express appreciation for the joint efforts taken towards its implementation, including efforts to coordinate the development of the Eurasian Economic Union and the BRI and call for using the potential of the regional countries, international organisations and multilateral associations to create a broad, open, mutually beneficial and equal partnership in the SCO space.” India’s name was missing in the Qingdao declaration, and that is expected to continue.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India Joins Russia in Voting Against West-Backed Move to Expand Powers of OPCW

The Wire: June 28, 2018 New Delhi: India voted against a UK-backed move that will allow the global chemical weapons watchdog to apportion blame for illegal attacks, criticising the decision to grant “unchecked powers” to the head of the group which could be used for “partisan” purposes. On Wednesday, more than two-thirds of the member states of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) voted to authorise the international body to identify the perpetrators and sponsors of a chemical weapons attack. It also specifically called on the OPCW’s technical secretariat to begin work on identifying the perpetrators behind the use of chemical weapons in Syria. The draft decision, sponsored by 30 countries, was adopted at the fourth special session of the conference of the states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention at the Hague, with 82 in favour and 24 negative votes. While Europe, the United States and their allies voted ‘yes’, there was strong oppo
Read more

As financial insecurity rises in urban India, so does investment in insurance

Image
Scroll.in March 13, 2020 Urban Indians are becoming less confident about their financial security. Up to 58% of them fret over financial independence post retirement, which is a 4% increase from last year. An equal share of urban Indians worry about meeting their daily medical expenses and sustaining their current lifestyle once they stop working. The findings are part of a survey published by Delhi-based Max Life Insurance in association with London-based consultancy Kantar. The firms surveyed 7,014 respondents in 25 cities, including six metros, nine tier-1 cities, and 10 tier-2 cities, between December 2019 and January 2020. Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz The trends Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz A significant share of urban Indians also say their families will have no financial support in the event of the breadwinner’s death. In such a scenario, around 57% believe the family sav
Read more

ED tracks Swiss Bank A/Cs of Agusta scamster

The Poineer February 10,2019 Rakesh K Singh The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has tracked a dozen Swiss bank accounts in the name of Rajiv Saxena, who is key accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. The ED has also found out accounts held by  his family members and associates where the kickbacks in the now scrapped deal were allegedly parked. Two bank accounts are in the name of Rajiv Saxena’s  associates Pankaj Jain and Sumita Jain who are also the authorised signatories. The  third is in the name of another associate Ajit Singh Bubber, but Rajiv and his family members are authorised signatories. The remaining nine accounts are largely owned and operated by Rajiv, his family members and associates. Rajiv Saxena was deported by the UAE authorities on January 30 and the ED formally arrested him the next day and a court later granted his remand to the agency. He is currently undergoing custodial interrogation by the ED. The agency had in 2017 arrested his
Read more