India Opposes China’s Belt And Road Initiative At SCO Meet While Other Nations Including Russia Back It

India furthered its opposition to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) council of heads of government meeting hosted by New Delhi, Hindustan Times reports.

Countries like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan extended their backing to the BRI in a joint communiqué at the end of the meeting.

However, India persisted with its resistance towards the project as an important part of it, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), passes through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The Narendra Modi-led government also asserted that the BRI doesn’t put forward an even ground for the country’s businesses.

The official statement mentions that the other supportive nations while “reaffirming their support for China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) Initiative (BRI), note the ongoing work on joint implementation of this project, including efforts to bridge construction [between] The Eurasian Economic Union and OBOR”.

India’s apprehensions over business with China meant that the country refrained from taking part in Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which had a trade agreement amongst the ten nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) along with Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, China and Japan.