Indian official’s project invite deserves ‘cautious welcome’

Indian officials have hinted at inviting China to participate in an India-Bangladesh connectivity project in a surprise move that Chinese observers broadly and cautiously welcomed on Thursday.

India was seeking Chinese participation in a newly drafted project that involves connecting the northeastern states with Bangladesh’s Chittagong port, The Times of India reported on Thursday.

The pitch was made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Ram Madhav and cabinet ministers of three BJP-ruled states: Assam, Tripura and Nagaland, the report said.

“If the Indian government confirms an invitation to China to participate in its northeastern projects, that means India is shifting toward China’s Belt and Road initiative,” Zhao Gancheng, director of the Shanghai Institute for the International Studies Center for Asia-Pacific Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times on Thursday.

China would highly welcome the Indian government’s proposal, Zhao said, given the recent uncertainties in the Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Economic Corridor.

China could offer economic support and investment to India and infrastructure construction, such as building highways, to Bangladesh.

But it was a decision that needed to be made by the Indian prime minister or the national government, not a party political leader, Zhao noted.

Lan Jianxue, an associate research fellow at the China Institute of International Studies echoed Zhao, saying as long as the project did not relate to any territorial dispute, China would likely get involved.

Cooperation between India and China is promising, but India needs to banish any vestiges of a Cold War mentality, Lan told the Global Times on Thursday.

The Indian Embassy in Beijing did not reply to an interview request from the Global Times as of press time.