‘China failed to gain India’s backing on Silk Road projects’

The Dollar Business Bureau Various Memorandum of Understandings and agreements signed between India and China during the Prime Minister of India’s recent visit to China have drawn global attention. However, a state-run Chinese think-tank said, "China has missed  securing India's backing for the Silk Road Economic Belt project and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR)," while mentioning that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China as a significant step towards building mutual trust and further strengthen bilateral co-operation between India and China. The projects that are termed under the name Silk Road projects include project enabling road connectivity between China and Europe through Central Asia, the Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar (BCIM) Corridor project, USD $ 46 billion- worth China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project and the Maritime Silk Road project. Meanwhile, another statement from a research article at the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, said, “Narendra Modi’s first journey to China, since he assumed office, constitutes a significant step in building the Sino-India strategic mutual trust.” It also said that the state heads of the two countries have strengthened mutual trust with practical actions, while stating that Modi has been given an unprecedented welcome and reception in China. However, it raised concern over the non-revelation of Modi’s announcement at Tsinghua University over enabling Chinese tourists to apply for Indian e-visas, in the joint press statement by the heads of the two states.    

May 21, 2015 | 7:23 pm IST.