INDIA SLAMS CHINA, PAKISTAN MOVE TO INVOLVE THIRD PARTIES IN CPEC

dia on Tuesday opposed the move by China and Pakistan to involve third nations or parties in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that reports about participation of third countries in so-called CPEC projects have been seen by the government and “any such actions directly infringe on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”. “India firmly and consistently opposes projects in the so-called CPEC, which are in Indian territory that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, adding, “Such activities are inherently illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable and will be treated accordingly by India.”

This newspaper had last week reported that India would be lodging its protest over a bid by China and Pakistan to extend CPEC to include Afghanistan, as the two nations were then holding talks to explore the possibility of its extension to Kabul.     In the third round of meeting recently, Pakistan and China had agreed saying that “CPEC’s development has reached a new point, with increasing emphasis on high-quality development of industry, agriculture, IT, and science and technology”, and has also “broken new ground in strengthening international and regional connectivity, especially in the context of its extension to Afghanistan”.

Sources told The Daily Guardian Review that the MEA was keeping a close watch on the development, preparing its strategy to counter this move by Beijing and Islamabad. “For now, a statement opposing the bid has been issued, but the foreign ministry is working on a more comprehensive plan to counter it,” officials privy to several crucial meetings at South Block told TDGR.

India’s further plan includes drawing attention of the world community towards these illegal activities of China and Pakistan. New Delhi through diplomatic channels will also apprise the Chinese government of how it is again involved in activities that infringe on territorial integrity of India. “Beijing is ignoring the joint pledge of BRICS summits that underlines the need to respect territorial integrity of all countries,” a source said.  What annoyed India was Pakistan and China welcomed “interested” third countries to join the multi-billion-dollar CPEC, saying it was an “open and inclusive platform” for mutually beneficial cooperation, sources said.

The CPEC Joint Working Group on International Cooperation and Coordination (JWG-ICC) has had three rounds of meetings. The third round was co-chaired by assistant foreign minister Wu Jianghao and Pakistani foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood.

India categorically said that the so-called CPEC project passes through illegally occupied Indian territory and such a move will be illegal and unacceptable. Bagchi reiterated India’s opposition to CPEC, a network of highways, rail links, power plants, manufacturing units and massive infrastructure projects launched in 2013, on the ground that projects are being built in illegally occupied Indian territory. CPEC was launched as a flagship venture under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).