June 5, 2017

"At the moment when the Modi-led government completes its third year in office, it meets one of its major foreign policy challenges in the form of China’s most ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Aimed at reviving the ancient Silk Route in the form of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Twenty-First Century Maritime Silk Road, the initiative comes with multibillion-dollar connectivity and infrastructural projects in and around Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. China has left no stone unturned to reach out to countries coming under the planned routes, especially those in South Asia. 

The grand strategy that China deploys through the BRI is exceptional. From the time the idea for connectivity and development, described at the time as 'One Belt One Road,' was announced by President Xi in 2013, Chinese media has been the second strongest force in promoting the initiative after China's diplomatic channels. While the recent BRI Forum saw the presence of more than thirty heads of state including the Russian President and Pakistani Prime Minister, India decided not to participate, citing the violation of its territorial integrity by one of the BRI’s key projects — the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which passes through the disputed territory of Kashmir. The Ministry of External Affairs in a statement added that India refuses to be 'part of a project (BRI) that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty, and territorial integrity.'" 

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http://www.ippreview.com/index.php/Blog/single/id/459.html