BEIJING: India today said China must explain how it can take part in the Silk Road summit being held here this year when the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passing through PoK violates its sovereignty.
“The subject came up. They have extended an invitation to the Government to participate in the summit. We are examining the matter,” Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who co-chaired an upgraded strategic dialogue between the two countries, told reporters here.
“The fact that China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is part of this particular initiative. CPEC violates Indian sovereignty because it runs through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK),” Jaishankar said.
“Therefore since they (China) are a country who have been very sensitive to sovereignty concerns, it was for them to say how a country whose sovereignty has been violated can come on an invitation. We would like to see what proposal anybody has in this regard. We were very frank with them in sharing what our concerns were and we share it in public. But the issue for us is a sovereignty issue,” he said. (AGENCIES)
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