BEIJING – China-Pakistan Economic Corridor — the flagship project ofChina’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — is being extended toAfghanistan, a report said on Sunday.
The BRI has injected “fresh vitality” to Asia’s economic cooperation andhelped the continent to reshape its international relations, said the AsianCompetitiveness Annual Report 2018 released in Beijing on the sidelines ofChina’s Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) annual conference.
China had unveiled in December its plans to extend the $50 billionCPEClink> to Afghanistan, which has sparkedconcerns in India.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi, during his meeting with his Pakistan andAfghan counterparts, had offered to extend CPEClink> to Afghanistan.
“China and Pakistan are willing to look at with Afghanistan, on the basisof win-win, mutually beneficial principles, using an appropriate means toextend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan,” Wang had saidat the trilateral foreign ministers’ meeting.
The BFA was formed by China in 2001 on the lines of the World EconomicForum in Davos, and holds its meeting every year.
This year’s forum to be held till April 11 has opened on Sunday in Boao, acoastal town in the southern island province of Hainan. President XiJinping is due to address the conference.
“China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project under the Beltand Road Initiative, has not only improved local infrastructure but also isextending toward Afghanistan, reducing poverty, the hotbed of terrorism,and bringing better prospects for local people’s lives,” state-run Xinhuanews agency quoted the report as saying.
The multi-billion-dollar BRI, the pet project of Xi has become a majorstumbling block in India-China relations as CPEClink> has been listed as its “flagshipproject”.
India has protested to China overCPEClink> , which is being built through AzadKashmir.
Outlining India’s concerns on BRI, Indian ambassador to China, GautamBambawale told Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post recently that “whenwe talk about development projects or connectivity projects, they must betransparent, fair and equal. There are certain internationally acceptednorms for such projects”.
“If a project meets those norms, we will be happy to take part in it. Oneof the norms is the project should not violate the sovereignty andterritorial integrity of a country. Unfortunately, there is this thingcalled CPEC link> , which is called aflagship project of BRI which violates India’s sovereignty and territoryintegrity. Therefore, we oppose it,” he said.
Earlier, he told state-run Global Times that both countries should resolvedifferences. “This is a major problem for us. We need to talk about it, notpush it under the carpet,” he said.