Beijing open to renaming China Pakistan Economic Corridor, says envoy heeding India's concerns

May 09, 2017

published: 2017-05-08 08:20:42

China is open to renaming the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project that runs through Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) to acknowledge India’s sovereignty concerns and ostensibly to make it a multilateral initiative, its envoy in Delhi has said.

“Even we can think about renaming the CPEC,” Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui said in an address to the United Services Institution in Delhi.

Luo also said China supported the resolution of Kashmir “bilaterally” in line with India’s view and that China “supported a settlement through bilateral negotiation in line with the Simla Agreement”.

“This is an example of China taking care of India’s concern,” he said, rejecting suggestions that China was changing its view on Kashmir.

‘CHINA HAS NO INTENTIONS TO GET INVOLVED IN INDO-PAK DISPUTES’

Acknowledging India “has reservations” over China’s One Belt, One Road (OBOR) because of CPEC that passes through PoK, Luo said “China has no intention to get involved in the sovereignty and territorial disputes between India and Pakistan”, according to the Chinese Embassy’s transcript of the speech he delivered at the USI on May 5.

Luo suggested China would be willing to rename CPEC. India has made the point that the very name of the project suggested that China was endorsing Pakistani territorial claims, as the corridor passes through PoK which is Indian territory. He did not say whether China would consider delinking CPEC from OBOR, which might also pave the way to India joining the initiative.

“Take Kashmir issue for example, we supported the relevant UN resolutions before 1990s. Then we supported a settlement through bilateral negotiation in line with the Simla Agreement. This is an example of China taking care of India’s concern. Today few Indian friends remember this episode, or they have chosen to forget it.”

“WE ALWAYS PUT CHINA FIRST”

“Some Indian media say that China always puts Pakistan first when handling its relations with South Asia countries. I want to tell you this is not true. Simply put, we always put China first and we deal with problems based on their own merits,” he said.

Separately on Monday, a commentary by Chinese writer Liu Jianxi in the hawkish Global Times said India “worries that Beijing is intentionally meddling in India-Pakistan disputes, utilising the CPEC to grant legitimacy to Islamabad’s control over the disputed region.”

“India is exaggerating the situation,” the paper said. “Beijing respects New Delhi’s sovereignty concerns, and is willing to mediate in India-Pakistan disputes, on the condition that it accords to the wishes of both India and Pakistan. China’s Belt and Road initiative aims to promote an inclusive global economy by enhancing regional connectivity and building cohesive trade networks, and does not target any third party.”

“CPEC FOR PROMOTING ECONOMIC COOPERATION”

Luo said “the CPEC is for promoting economic cooperation and connectivity. It has no connections to or impact on sovereignty issues. China and India have had successful experience of delinking sovereignty disputes with bilateral relations before. In history, we have had close cooperation along the ancient Silk Road. Why shouldn’t we support this kind of cooperation today? In a word, China is sincere in its intention to cooperate with India on the OBOR, as it is goodfor both of us.”

At the same time, Luo said China was “willing to mediate when India and Pakistan have problems” but only on the “precondition is that both India and Pakistan accept it.” “We do hope that there is no problem at all. When the Mumbai Terrorist Attack on November 26, 2008, took place, I was Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan, and I did a lot of mediation at that time,” he said.

In his speech, Luo reiterated his four point proposal for ties: “Firstly, start negotiation on a China-India Treaty of Good Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. Secondly, restart negotiation of China-India Free Trade Agreement. Thirdly, strive for an early harvest on the border issue. Fourthly, actively explore the feasibility of aligning China’s OBOR and India’s Act East Policy.” he said. Disclaimer- The fact and story in this video is taken from various news agencies . Our intention is only to publish this through our channel not hurting anyone . We always try to make video true to real facts Channel Link: https://www.youtube.com/DefenceTube Google Plus Link: https:// https://plus.google.com/+DefenceTube Check my all playlist : https://www.youtube.com/defencetube/playlist

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