Xi Jinping defends BRI at SCO summit despite India's reservations
Xi Jinping pitched for his country’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in his speech at the SCO Summit on Tuesday, claiming that the infrastructure project would facilitate regional cooperation and trade and investment, even as host India expressed reservations over such initiatives. Xi called for “efforts to better synergise high-quality cooperation under the BRI with various countries’ development strategies and regional cooperation initiatives”.
He said the BRI would accelerate “the construction of port infrastructure and regional (and) international logistics channels”. India, which became an SCO member in 2017 along with Pakistan, has refused to join the BRI over “sovereignty concerns” because one of its flagship projects, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), passes through Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made this clear yet again on Tuesday. Xi also called for efforts to “safeguard regional peace” and ensure “common security” and stated that it is the common responsibility of the members of the grouping to “achieve long-term peace and stability in the region”.
“China is willing to work with all parties to implement global security initiatives, insist on resolving differences and conflicts,” he said, without any direct reference to the Russia-Ukraine war. The Chinese leader went out to say that conflicts should be resolved through dialogue and consultation.
Without naming any country involved, the Chinese leader criticised “unilateral sanctions”, adding that China opposes the “generalisation of the concept of national security”, “building walls and barriers” and “decoupling and breaking chains”. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who also addressed the virtual summit, tried to
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