NEW DELHI: India has expressed strong opposition to the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, which is the key to Beijing’s ambitious ‘One-Belt, One-Road’ initiative, even as it slammed Islamabad for not taking concrete steps to stop crossborder terrorism.
“The CPEC passing through Azad Kashmir challenges Indian sovereignty,” said the Union defence ministry in its annual report submitted to Parliament on Wednesday.
During the G-20 summit at Hangzhou in September last year, PM Narendra Modi had expressed India’s concerns over the CPEC in his bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, holding that the two countries needed to be “sensitive” to each other’s strategic interests, according to Indian media.
Taking note of China’s significant restructuring of its People’s Liberation Army to boost its offensive military capabilities, the defence ministry also reiterated India’s support for freedom of navigation and over flight, and unimpeached commerce, based on international laws in the South China Sea.
New Delhi has taken to criticising Beijing’s strong arm tactics in the South China Sea , even as it slowly but steadily builds military ties with countries like Vietnam, Malaysia and others locked in territorial disputes with China in the region.
“India undertakes various activities, including cooperation in the oil and gas sector, with littoral states of South China Sea (Vietnam, for instance)…India believes that states should resolve disputes through peaceful means,” said the MoD.