China says CPEC has ‘no direct link’ with Kashmir issue

TIL Desk/World/Beijing/China today defended the strategic China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passing through PoK over which India has lodged strong protests, saying the project has “no direct link” with the Kashmir issue as it was an “economic” venture. Seeking to allay India’s concerns, China also said New Delhi was welcome to actively participate in the ‘One Belt One Road’ (OBOR) project, a pet initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“First, I want to say that we welcome India’s participation in the building of the One Belt One Road project,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said addressing a media briefing on the OBOR summit to be held here from May 14 -15. OBOR is the official name for the multi-billion dollars Silk Road project initiated by Xi to expand China’s connectivity and strategic influence in the neighbourhood and around the world.

The OBOR summit has posed a dilemma for India as the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a flagship project of the initiative which passes through the Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK). Commenting for the first time on India’s objections over the CPEC, Wang said, “You also mentioned CPEC, I want to reiterate that economic corridor is economic.”