Centre outlines plan to counter China’s BRI

NEW DELHI: India has outlined its rebalancing strategy to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), highlighting its offer of soft loans for several development and capacity building projects across continents.India has a robust development cooperation agenda, constituting a significant dimension of its close and multifaceted ties with many partner countries, including in India’s neighbourhood, said V Muraleedharan, the minister of state for external affairs, answering a query in the Lok Sabha last week, while expressing strong reservations against the BRI and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.“Extension of Government of India (GoI) Lines of Credit (LoCs) on concessional terms is an important component of this development partnership in diverse areas of socio-economic development such as power, transport, connectivity, agriculture and irrigation, manufacturing industries, water and sanitation, healthcare,” the minister said. “As part of the GoI LoC programme, 279 LoCs have been extended to 63 countries of Asia, Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, O c e a n i a a n d Commonwealth of Independent States worth nearly $28 billion,” Muraleedharan informed the lower house of Parliament. Of this, 254 projects aggregating nearly $4.70 billion have been completed, while 194 projects worth nearly $19 billion are under implementation, he said. These include 94 connectivity projects in five countries in India’s immediate neighbourhood that are being taken up with GoI LoCs worth nearly $6.6 billion, he informed the House.Interestingly, there was no mention of any Indo-Japan bilateral project in the Indo-Pacific region or the proposed trilateral cooperation involving India-Japan-USA or any proposed Quadrilateral (India-Japan-USA-Australia) aimed at rebalancing the BRI. Referring to the government’s position on China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ (OBOR) or BRI, the minister emphasised this has been clear and consistent. “The inclusion of the so-called ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’ , which passes through parts of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir under illegal occupation of Pakistan, as a flagship project of ‘OBOR/BRI’, reflects lack of appreciation of India’s concerns on the issue of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said. The government has conveyed to the Chinese side its concerns.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/32cdle2
via IFTTT