NEW DELHI : Asking China to respect others’ sovereignty the same way it cares for its own, India today categorically said the economic corridor being build by Beijing in collaboration with Pakistan clearly passes through the territory, which belongs to India.
Replying to queries after addressing the second Raisina Dialogue here, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar told China in no uncertain terms that it would understand India’s sensitivity on the issue of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Responding to a question on the issue, he said “surely, people will understand what Indian reaction is. There needs to be some reflection and I am sorry to say, we have not seen signs of that.”
This is, perhaps, for the first time that India’s reaction to the 46-billion mega project being build by China to connect Gwadar Port to its own territory has been articulated in such a blunt manner.
“China is very sensitive on matters concerning its sovereignty. We expect, they respect other people’s sovereignty,” Mr Jaishanker said, adding that rise of India is not harmful to China’s rise, just like China’s rise is not harmful to India.
India’s stand on crucial issues concerning China comes at a time, when Beijing has repeated been scuttling New Delhi’s initiatives on various international forums, including at the UN and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), be it the issue of blacklisting of terror kingpin Maulana Masood Azhar, based in Pakistan or India’s bid to gain entry into the NSG, as its full-fledged member. (AGENCIES)
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