Express News Service
NEW DELHI: At the 21st meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member-states held virtually on Tuesday, India decided to stay out of the joint communiqué reference to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for which other countries affirmed their support.
The countries backing BRI were Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikstan and Uzbekistan. They also spoke about jointly implementing the project, which included efforts to link the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union and BRI.
The meeting was chaired by the Premier of China’s State Council Li Kegiang. In an apparent reference to China’s controversial BRI project, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said: “Connectivity projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member-states and respect international law. Fair market access is the only way to move forward. The said Chabahar port and the International North South Transport Corridor could become enablers for better connectivity in the SCO region.”
The International North South Transport Corridor is a 7,200-km multi-modal transport corridor that combines road, rail and maritime routes connecting Russia and India via Central Asia and Iran. It links the Indian Ocean to the Caspian Sea via the Persian Gulf onwards into Russia and Northern Europe. Jaishankar also spoke about Mission LiFE launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat recently which envisions replacing the prevalent “use and dispose” economy by a circular economy.
India also highlighted that in 2023 the UN International Year of Millets, India intends to foster greater cooperation with SCO member-states on countering the food crisis. “Our total trade with SCO members is only $141 billion, which has the potential to increase manifold. Fair market access is to our mutual benefit and will only move forward,” Jaishankar added.
The regular meeting of the Council Heads of Government of the SCO member-states will be held in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2023. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also attended the meeting virtually. India has repeatedly registered its protests over China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of China’s BRI, saying it is in violation of its sovereignty as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), an Indian territory illegally occupied by Pakistan.
The SCO is seen as an eastern counter-balance to NATO and India’s membership has allowed the country to push effective action in combating terrorism and security issues. The presence of India and China, the world’s most populous countries, makes SCO the organisation with the largest population coverage.
India for the first time hosted the heads of government (HoG) meeting of SCO in 2020, three years after joining the eight-nation group. The SCO’s significance for India mainly lies in economics and geopolitics with member states. SCO is also a potential platform to advance India’s Central Asia policy.
According to some estimates, Chinese investments in the countries which are a part of the BRI fell 54% in just a year from 2019 to 2020. Investments in giant infrastructure initiatives based in Africa have also declined substantially. However, China has also begun to engage in conversations about debt forgiveness.
NEW DELHI: At the 21st meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member-states held virtually on Tuesday, India decided to stay out of the joint communiqué reference to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for which other countries affirmed their support.
The countries backing BRI were Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikstan and Uzbekistan. They also spoke about jointly implementing the project, which included efforts to link the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union and BRI.
The meeting was chaired by the Premier of China’s State Council Li Kegiang. In an apparent reference to China’s controversial BRI project, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said: “Connectivity projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member-states and respect international law. Fair market access is the only way to move forward. The said Chabahar port and the International North South Transport Corridor could become enablers for better connectivity in the SCO region.”
The International North South Transport Corridor is a 7,200-km multi-modal transport corridor that combines road, rail and maritime routes connecting Russia and India via Central Asia and Iran. It links the Indian Ocean to the Caspian Sea via the Persian Gulf onwards into Russia and Northern Europe. Jaishankar also spoke about Mission LiFE launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Gujarat recently which envisions replacing the prevalent “use and dispose” economy by a circular economy.
India also highlighted that in 2023 the UN International Year of Millets, India intends to foster greater cooperation with SCO member-states on countering the food crisis. “Our total trade with SCO members is only $141 billion, which has the potential to increase manifold. Fair market access is to our mutual benefit and will only move forward,” Jaishankar added.
The regular meeting of the Council Heads of Government of the SCO member-states will be held in the Kyrgyz Republic in 2023. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also attended the meeting virtually. India has repeatedly registered its protests over China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the flagship project of China’s BRI, saying it is in violation of its sovereignty as it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), an Indian territory illegally occupied by Pakistan.
The SCO is seen as an eastern counter-balance to NATO and India’s membership has allowed the country to push effective action in combating terrorism and security issues. The presence of India and China, the world’s most populous countries, makes SCO the organisation with the largest population coverage.
India for the first time hosted the heads of government (HoG) meeting of SCO in 2020, three years after joining the eight-nation group. The SCO’s significance for India mainly lies in economics and geopolitics with member states. SCO is also a potential platform to advance India’s Central Asia policy.
According to some estimates, Chinese investments in the countries which are a part of the BRI fell 54% in just a year from 2019 to 2020. Investments in giant infrastructure initiatives based in Africa have also declined substantially. However, China has also begun to engage in conversations about debt forgiveness.
