ISLAMABAD – The Indian media report on Chinese offer to India over renaming the China Pakistan Economic Corridor CPEC has perturbed Pakistan which has reportedly seeked clarification from Chinese Counsel General.
India has been showing strong reservation to China over the multi billion dollar project with Pakistan which India claims passes through the disputed Kashmir region.
Pakistan on Monday sought clarification from Chinese Counsel General over an Indian report about China’s willingness to change the name of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to assuage India’s concerns about the project.
The offer was reportedly made by the Chinese ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui in a speech to the United Service Institution (USI) in New Delhi on Friday, according to Zee News.
Stating that the CPEC is for promoting economic cooperation on connectivity, Luo claimed that it has “no connections to or impact on sovereignty issues”.
This is not a new argument from China. A similar point was made by Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi last month at a media briefing about the forthcoming OBOR summit. But in his speech, the Chinese ambassador floated a new offer as a possible solution to mitigate Indian concerns. China, he said “even can think about renaming the CPEC.”
“It (CPEC) has no connections to or impact on sovereignty issues. Even we can think about renaming the CPEC. China and India have had successful experience of delinking sovereignty disputes with bilateral relations before. China is sincere in its intention to cooperate with India on the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, as it is good for both of us,” he said.
A private Pakistani TV channel, citing sources in Ministry of Planning and Development, reported that Pakistani officials have written a letter to Chinese authorities in Islamabad over the issue. “We are awaiting Chinese clarification on this situation,” the officials were quoted by Geo News as saying on Monday.