What is China’s Belt and Road Initiative and why was S Jaishankar critical of it at SCO meet?

External affairs minister (EAM) S Jaishankar on Tuesday (1 November) said connectivity projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations. His remarks, made at a virtual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of Government hosted by Chinese premier Li Keqiang, are being viewed as a veiled reference to China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

A joint communique issued at the end of the meeting said all countries– Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan– “reaffirmed their support for the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative”, “including the work to promote the alignment of the ‘Belt and Road’ construction with the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union”, reports The Hindu.

However, India was not among the SCO-member countries to extend support to the BRI.

What is China’s Belt and Road Initiative? What has been India’s stance on BRI? What did EAM Jaishankar say at the SCO meeting? Let’s take a closer look.

What is Belt and Road Initiative?

The multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) aims to connect China with the rest of the world through sea corridors and shipping routes.

The Guardian describes the project as a “21st-century silk road” that consists of a “‘belt’ of overland corridors and a maritime ‘road’ of shipping lanes”.

China’s BRI was earlier known as ‘One Belt One Road’. AFP (Representational Image)

The ‘belt’ refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt that comprises a series of overland routes– connecting China, Central Asia, Russia and Europe. This belt will link China with the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea through Central Asia and West Asia, and connect China with Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean, as per Indian Express.

The ‘road’ refers to the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that includes developing new sea trade infrastructure connecting China to Europe through the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, and from China through the South China Sea towards the South Pacific.

As per the think tank Chatham House, this maritime silk road would include fuelling stations, ports, bridges, industry, and infrastructure through Southeast Asia and into the Indian Ocean. For this, Pakistan is probably the most ‘crucial partner country’ for Beijing through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, Chatham House reports.

As of March 2022, nearly 147 countries have joined the Belt and Road Initiative by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China, as per Green Finance & Development Center website.

India’s stance on BRI

New Delhi has opposed the Belt and Road Initiative mainly because the project passes through parts of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) claimed by India.

Under CPEC, mainland China is linked to the Arabian Sea via Kashgar in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to Gwadar port in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan.

Further, this arm of the BRI enters Indian territory occupied by Pakistan in Gilgit Baltistan, and covers the complete length of Pakistan before reaching the Arabian Sea, reports Indian Express.

The investment project includes the renovation and upgradation of Pakistan’s National Highway 35 — the Karakoram Highway or China-Pakistan Friendship Highway — as well as revamping the highway connecting Gilgit with Skardu to the north of the Line of Control (LoC), as per Indian Express.

CPEC includes the renovation of the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway. AFP File Photo

In August this year, India had lodged protests against China and Pakistan inviting other countries to join projects related to CPEC, calling the move “illegal” and “unacceptable.”

“We have seen reports on encouraging a proposed participation of third countries in so-called CPEC projects. Any such actions by any party directly infringe on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the ministry of external affairs, had said in a statement, as per Deutsche Welle (DW).

Addressing the UN Sustainable Transport Conference hosted by Beijing, Priyanka Sohoni, Second Secretary at the Indian Embassy in China, had said in October 2021 that the CPEC project “impinges on India’s sovereignty.”

Earlier in May 2017, the MEA had said: “Regarding the so-called ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor’, which is being projected as the flagship project of the BRI/OBOR, the international community is well aware of India’s position. No country can accept a project that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Sarral Sharma, a PhD scholar at the Special Center for National Security Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, told DW in August, “New Delhi has been raising the issue that if third countries invest in any project in the occupied territory, it will actually impact India’s bilateral relations with that country. That is the principal position and India will continue to raise it.”

What did EAM say about BRI?

In a series of tweets after the SCO meeting on Tuesday, EAM Jaishankar attacked China’s BRI, saying “connectivity projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States and respect international law”.

India has refused to be a part of BRI and has instead been promoting the Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar and the link through the INSTC to counter China’s BRI and the transit trade through Pakistan, The Hindu reports.

“[I] underlined that we need better connectivity in the SCO region built on centrality of interests of Central Asian states. [This] will unlock the economic potential of this region in which Chabahar port and the International North South Transport Corridor could become enablers,” Jaishankar tweeted.

With inputs from agencies

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