China will hold its second Belt and Road Forum (BRF) from Thursday to showcase its trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) without India's presence for the second consecutive time, while 37 heads of the state and government, including from Pakistan, would attend the three-day grand event.

The BRI was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.

The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan's Balochistan with China's Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of Xi's ambitious BRI.

India has been boycotting the BRI to protest over the $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) being laid through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

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