'Infringes on India's sovereignty': MEA on reports of third countries participating in CPEC projects

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said it has witnessed reports about third countries participating in projects related to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and any similar activity amounts to a direct infringement on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated that India firmly and consistently opposes projects in “so-called CPEC which are in Indian territory that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan.”  He further noted, “Such activities are inherently illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable, and will be treated accordingly by India.”

The MEA was responding to reports of Pakistan and China deciding to invite any interested third country to join the multibillion-dollar infrastructure CPEC project, dubbing it as mutually beneficial cooperation. The call for investment from third countries was made at a meeting of the CPEC Joint Working Group (JWG) on Internatioinal Cooperation and Coordination on July 22.

This meeting was chaired by Pakistani foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood and Chinese assistant foreign minister Wu Jianghao. Pakistani foreign office  said in a statement accessed by news agency PTI, “As an open and inclusive platform, both sides welcomed interested third parties to benefit from avenues for mutually beneficial cooperation opened up by CPEC.”

CPEC is a collection of infrastructure and other projects under construction through Pakistan since 2013. These projects were worth $62 billion as of 2017. These projects include mega-dams, oil and gas pipelines and uranium and heavy metal extraction in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.

The multi-billion dollar project also links Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Arabian sea with Kashgar in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region but has been met with resistance from Balochistan and Pakistani workers associated with the projects.

CPEC is a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). India has consistently protested to China over the CPEC since it is being laid out through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK).

(With agency inputs)