External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar on Tuesday pitched for better connectivity in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) region, but at the same time underlined that such projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states.
In an address at a virtual meeting of SCO Council of Heads of Government (CHG), Jaishankar said the Chabahar port and the International North South Transport Corridor could become enablers for connectivity in the region.
"Represented India at the meeting of SCO Council of Heads of Government which has just concluded. Underlined that we need better connectivity in the SCO region built on centrality of interests of Central Asian states," he tweeted.
The external affairs minister said "connectivity projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states and respect international law".
His remarks are seen as a reference to China's Belt and Road initiative.
Why India opposes China's Belt and Road Inititative
Government officials in India have repeatedly objected to China's Belt and Road Initiative. In particular, they believe the "China–Pakistan Economic Corridor" (CPEC) project ignores New Delhi's essential concerns on its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
China, for its part, has said that the CPEC is an economic initiative that is “not relevant to disputes over territorial sovereignty”. Beijing has also said the project does not affect its position on the Kashmir issue, which should be addressed through negotiations between India and Pakistan.
The crux of the issue concerns the transit pathway that will link western China to the plains of Pakistan and then through to a new deep-water port at Gwadar.
The only way to get from western China to the heart of Pakistan is through the Karakoram Highway, a high-altitude transport corridor that in many ways could be called the twentieth-century blueprint for the Belt and Road Initiative. The highway was built by China and Pakistan, beginning back in 1959. It opened in 1979.
The highway runs through territory now called Gilgit-Baltistan (earlier termed the “Northern Areas”) that was originally part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. India and Pakistan both claim the entirety of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, though it is Pakistan’s claims to the Srinagar Valley that tend to occupy international public attention as the “Kashmir Conflict,” not Indian claims to other parts of the territory which Pakistan presently administers.
India has been consistent and unambiguous in its position on China’s BRI projects. That China had decided to pursue these projects in the face of this position reflects a short-sighted view, thus pushing India into an anti-China bloc much faster.
What is the SCO?
The SCO was founded at a summit in Shanghai in 2001 by the presidents of Russia, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Over the years, it has emerged as one of the largest trans-regional international organisations. India and Pakistan became its permanent members in 2017.
The annual SCO summit took place in the Uzbek city of Samarkand last month. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders of the grouping attended it.
(with inputs from PTI)
