Riding the high horse is like hammering your own foot. New Delhi seems to be making this mistake in their handling of the, ” One Belt One Road ” which is the flagship project of the Chinese President, Xi Jinping.
OBOR
To put it into simple words, OBOR, the massive economic corridor would run through the continents of Asia, Europe, and Africa, connecting the vibrant East Asian economic circle at one end with the developed European economic circle at the other end.
China envisages that the project once completed would impact 4.4 billion people and within a decade, generate jaw-dropping trade of over $2.5 trillion.
India and China are currently going through a period of deep impasse whose end seems to be far from ending.
A PAIN IN THE NECK
China’s unwillingness to support India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group and to guard Masood Azhar (accused in Pathankot incident) of Jaish-e-Mohammed against being placed on the United Nations Security Council’s terror list have tested India’s patience to the brim.
He is the man who had been released by the NDA government after the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight to Kandahar in 1999 and has also been accused in multiple blasts across Kashmir.
To be specific to this particular project, the government is against it for the simple fact that it dilutes India’s sovereignty.
STRATEGIC DISTRUST
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a project under OBOR which runs between Xinjiang and Gwadar in Balochistan, goes through territories which India claims, namely POK and Gilgit-Baltistan. This is a sensitive area and India is definitely not going to compromise on it.
Another vague reason to defy OBOR is that it is a unilateral, national initiative of the Chinese which other countries are not obligated to buy into. India does not want to lose ground to Chine on economic fronts and such a grand initiative will obviously steep it in China’s favor.
ECONOMY OVER POLITICS
India needs to change it’s stance on it as soon as possible. It is imperative for other South Asian Countries to buy into it and New Delhi would be damaging its own image in countering OBOR.
On top of that, the reality is that Trump’s administration has an isolationist approach which actually augurs well for India and China in terms of taking the baton for as a world economic superpower.
India is way behind China economically but not partnering with them at such a juncture would be a self -goal.
GEOPOLITICS OVER DOMESTIC POLICIES
Manmohan Singh had rightly remarked,
“Borders cannot be changed, but they can be made irrelevant”
Modi should not and cannot have a soft approach when it comes to border disputes. But economy well being is more important than anything. Thus it should get operational detail in the minutest thing possible considering trade in POK.
We need not succumb to anyone but playing the right card is the need of the hour.
Image Credits- Google Images
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