India Nixes Support For China’s Belt And Road Initiative

NEW DELHI (ANI) – India has again opted out of supporting China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), becoming the only country in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) refusing to endorse the project.

The New Delhi Declaration after the conclusion of the summit, which took place on July 4 under India’s chairmanship, stated that Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan reaffirmed their support to the BRI. The SCO summit concluded under India’s presidency earlier in the day. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and heads of state of other SCO nations virtually took part in the event.

Addressing the 23rd SCO summit, Xi Jinping said, “Efforts should be made to further promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, speed up the development of port infrastructure and regional and international logistic corridors, and ensure stable and smooth functioning of regional industrial and supply chains”.

However, India has said that although connectivity is very important, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries should be respected.

The summit, chaired by PM Modi, was joined by Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and other leaders of the grouping.