Shanghai Cooperation OrganizationIn the New Delhi Declaration issued at the end of the SCO leaders’ summit, India refused to sign a paragraph endorsing the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
India has always opposed BRI
A similar formulation was used in the Samarkand Declaration in 2022, when India refused to sign the paragraph. India has always opposed the BRI, as it says that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor violates India’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
This project passes through the route which is illegally occupied by Pakistan.
Let us tell you, BRI is a project which mainly connects China with the Arabian Sea. It stretches from Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to Gwadar port in southwestern Balochistan, Pakistan. The project enters the Indian territory occupied by Pakistan in Gilgit Baltistan. And crosses Pakistan from north to south before reaching the Arabian Sea. India does not support any project of China, which poses a threat to the security of the country. The biggest reason for India not supporting BRI is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is a part of the project. This project passes through the route which was illegally occupied by Pakistan.
What did India write in its declaration?
The BRI paragraph in the 2023 New Delhi Declaration reads, “affirming their support for China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) initiative, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of The people of Uzbekistan note the ongoing work to jointly implement this project, including efforts to link the Eurasian Economic Union and the construction of the BRI.
