News Maker Obor: Has India Missed The Bus?

Has India missed the bus? Instead of steering clear of the possible problems and strategic hurdles, India has avoided the journey itself. Is it a diplomatic goof up? Maybe, yes. For a nation that could weave and cobble up BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group, staying aloof from a massive global summit at Beijing on May 15 and16; and dithering over too many issues came as a terrible embarrassment.

- Mubaashir Ansari & A SayeSekhar

India’s concerns over the dream scheme of President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping – the One Belt One Road (OBOR) – project that galvanises the economies and encapsulates over 65 per cent of world’s population cannot be trashed as a figment of fertile imagination, though. India’s fears are, for sure, not unfounded.

India claims that it surely is a sovereignty issue. The core of the concern is the 3,000km China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)that connects Pakistan’s deep-water port Gwadar and China’s Xinjiang.

For the CPEC, Gilgit-Baltistan region in the disputed Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) becomes a thoroughfare. Presence of China in a territory which India is claiming as its own integral part naturally behoves India to insulate itself from any fresh controversy.

If China controls Gwadar port, and OBOR boosting China’s access to Indian Ocean, the continental shelf of India too comes under threat. The Indian Ocean would have India only in its name.

China’s string-of-pearls policy around Indian Ocean would complete the circle around India – in a way China grips India, leaving the latter to grapple.

Critics came forth pouring scorn over India’s “skewed foreign policy” alleging that it has already gone into a tailspin. Partly, this is true. For, as many as 65 nations with more than 22 heads of governments and the rest through their delegations participated in the OBOR summit. India remained sulking outside the door.

India could have, in fact, made the best use of the opportunity to cry foul aloud and negotiate its space in the largest economic activity in the world. This would have obscured the importance China is deliberately bestowing on Pakistan.