India disses China over BRI again, counters campaign in Maldives over assistance
India opted to stay out of the BRI since a key section of the project, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), runs through PoK
NEW DELHI: India on Thursday reiterated its opposition to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) against the backdrop of Maldives’ president-elect Mohamed Muizzu highlighting the role of Beijing’s flagship infrastructure programme in the development of participating countries.
The Indian side’s cooperation with the Maldives is based on jointly addressing shared challenges and priorities, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi told a regular media briefing, referring to security and development assistance provided to the Indian Ocean archipelago by New Delhi.
India’s position on BRI, including the programme’s “lack of respect for our sovereignty and territorial integrity are well known and consistent”, Bagchi said while responding to several questions on the Belt and Road Forum hosted by China and Muizzu’s comments endorsing the BRI.
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Bagchi said that unlike in the past, India had not been invited by China to this year’s Belt and Road Forum. “I don’t think we received an invitation this year,” he said.
India opted to stay out of the BRI since a key section of the massive infrastructure project – the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) - runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and because New Delhi believes the programme does not offer a level playing field to non-Chinese companies.
Bagchi pointed to a statement issued by India in May 2017, when the first Belt and Road Forum was held, to oppose the BRI and said the country’s “concerns still stand today”. Parts of CPEC pass through territories that are in “illegal occupation of Pakistan” and this amounts to a violation of India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, he said.
This year’s Belt and Road Forum marks the 10th anniversary of BRI and the event in Beijing was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin just weeks after he skipped the G20 Summit hosted by India. Bagchi said India is “loathe to link G20 participation with other things” and noted that India had invited all G20 members to the summit in New Delhi.
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He said that countries “have different decision-making perspectives” when deciding on participation in such events. All G20 members have also been invited to a virtual summit to be hosted by India in November, and New Delhi looks forward to participation by as many leaders as possible, he added.
Responding to questions about the Maldives’ president-elect endorsing the BRI and pledging to remove Indian military personnel from the archipelago, Bagchi said: “The assistance and platforms that we have provided have contributed significantly in areas like people’s welfare, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and combating illegal maritime activities.”
India has provided two military helicopters and a maritime surveillance aircraft to the Maldives and has a small contingent of security personnel deployed in the country. Over the past five years, more than 500 medical evacuations were carried out by Indian personnel, saving 523 Maldivian lives, Bagchi said.
Of these, 131 evacuations were carried out in 2023, 140 in 2022, and 109 in 2021. During the same period, more than 450 “multifaceted missions” were carried out to safeguard the maritime security of the Maldives, including 122 missions in 2022, 152 in 2021, and 124 in 2020.
“We look forward to continuing our cooperation and partnership with the Maldives, which is multifaceted, which covers areas of benefit to the Maldivian people, particularly humanitarian assistance, welfare [and] disaster relief,” Bagchi said.
