New Delhi isolates itself from global partners by blocking Belt and Road initiative
For China, the China- Pakistan Economic Corridor ( CPEC) is a signifi cant part of the Belt and Road initiative, which is not only a domestic strategy by China to open up its central and western regions, but also a regional and international development proposal. To some degree, the Belt and Road initiative is a concrete measure to put forward globalization. Nowadays, globalization has encountered many problems, and an anti- globalization trend has appeared in Europe and the US. This trend is not good for emerging economies, such as India, so the Belt and Road initiative, including the CPEC, should be welcomed by India and other emerging powers.
US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have shown an interest in participating in the Belt and Road initiative. Both the US and Japan sent high- level delegations to Beijing to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in May.
India didn’t attend the forum. India’s attitude toward the CPEC is very clear: It opposes the project. The CPEC runs through Pakistan- controlled Kashmir which is also claimed by India as its territory. However, this is only an excuse. The fundamental reason is that India mainly thinks about the issue from a perspective of geostrategic competition.
Indian think tanks believe China is pursuing a unipolar Asia and a bipolar world, and the Belt and Road initiative is part of China’s strategic design. This is speculation by India, and it is not true.
To ensure the smooth advancement of the CPEC, it is necessary for Pakistan to have a stable and peace- ful domestic and periphery environment. It is especially important to have favorable conditions in anti- terrorism, the Afghan peace process and the peace and stability of Kashmir. In the process of building peaceful and stable domestic circumstances, governance capability is the key factor. China would like to share and discuss some of its experience and methods for running a country, including cooperation on antiterrorism, secessionism and extremism. De- radicalization and modernization of religions are important and urgent tasks for many countries in the world, including China and Pakistan. India will benefi t if China and Pakistan can achieve these goals.
India has isolated itself by refusing to attend the Belt and Road forum. India wants the US to restart the New Silk Road and the Indo- Pacifi c Economic Corridor initiatives. Beijing does not reject these plans and, if there is any possibility, hopes to integrate them with the Belt and Road.
The US hopes China will help the US and India restart these two initiatives. Neither the so- called Freedom Corridor nor the Asia- Africa Growth Corridor collides with the Belt and Road initiative. The connectivity projects by New Delhi and Japan, though raised either to compete with or contain China’s sphere of infl uence, will objectively facilitate trade cooperation, which is exactly China’s original intention.
Beijing and New Delhi have a slew of cooperation projects already in store. China’s investment has contributed signifi cantly to India’s infrastructure and socio- economic development; private and local cooperation between the two have seen dramatic progress. So for China, the Belt and Road initiative remains open to India.
However, there are some indications that India wants to sabotage the Belt and Road initiative and the CPEC. In diplomacy, India has tried its best to isolate Pakistan internationally in the past two years. India wants to adopt counterbalance to the Belt and Road initiative and the CPEC by allying militarily with other countries and asking China to abide by so- called international laws and norms and maintain transparency in the Belt and Road projects.
There is no problem of transparency, because China is cooperating with the UNDP and other international organizations. Recently, the Indian army crossed the confi rmed boundary between China and India. Their real aim is to impede the cooperation between China and South Asian countries and the advancement of the Belt and Road initiative. China must deal with these problems seriously.