NEW DELHI: China on Friday made another appeal to India to shed its opposition to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), even as it made it clear that New Delhi’s boycott of the second BRI Forum in Beijing from April 25-27, would not impact the growing relations between the two nations.
New Delhi had stayed away from the first forum in 2017 saying it violated the country’s sovereignty since the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key segment of the project, passes through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). There are also growing concerns that the project is being used by Beijing to promote its economic and political ambitions and creating debt traps for host nations.
“India has its basic position on these disputes. Our cooperation will not undermine any party’s position on those issues,” State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press conference in Beijing on Friday. China maintains that the Kashmir dispute is a historical legacy which should be resolved between India and Pakistan.
Wang however said India’s boycott would not undermine the momentum generated by the informal summit in Wuhan between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in April last year. “After the Wuhan summit, we see all areas or progress between the two countries and we have bright prospect for this relationship. We are now preparing for the next summit of our leaders,” he said.
Guest list
Russia, Pakistan, ASEAN heads of state, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, France, several African and Central Asian countries attending