Beijing deletes Indian envoy's suggestion to rename China-Pakistan corridor
India has been against the ambitious project as it passes through Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir, which New Delhi says challenges its sovereignty by lending legitimacy to Pakistan's claim over the territory.
Ahead of One Belt One Road (OBOR) Summit next week,China offered to consider renaming the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to pacify New Delhi and tag it along to become a part of President Xi Jinping's pet project, OBOR.
India has been against the ambitious project as it passes through Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir, which New Delhi says challenges its sovereignty by lending legitimacy to Pakistan's claim over the territory.
The offer made by China's envoy to India Luo Zhaohui at a closed-door address on Friday, was made public on the Chinese Embassy's website. By late Monday evening, however, the Embassy removed this offer from his speech. It, however, still showed up in Google's cached pages.
Announced by President Xi in 2013, OBOR is a maze of connectivity projects connecting China with Europe, Asia and Africa that, according to one estimate, will require investments in excess of $ 900 billion that will link ports, gas pipelines and high speech railways.
A flagship project for the OBOR is the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) comprising highway, rail and energy projects broadly along what was once called the Silk Route. It has angered New Delhi because it cuts through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but China has brushed aside these concerns.
Mr Lou's offer to rename the corridor in a lecture at the United Services Institution on Friday was part of his four-point initiative that the two countries should take to deepen ties. The "initiative" came at a time relations between the two countries aren't in the best of shape. India has taken a dim view of Beijing renaming six locations in Arunachal Pradesh, blocking New Delhi's efforts to get Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar banned by the United Nations and stalling India's bid for NSG membership.
Apart from starting negotiation of a Free Trade Agreement and a treaty on 'Good Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation, the Chinese Ambassador asked New Delhi to not confuse the route that corridor takes to sovereignty issues. It is for promoting economic cooperation and connectivity. "It has no connections to or impact on sovereignty issues," he said.
