Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday said China may consider hosting the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in 2023. China has not held any international events barring the Beijing Olympics following the onset of Covid-19 pandemic.
The BRI Summit has been put on hold since 2019. Due to Covid-19 pandemic, the summit has not been held for the past two years.
The BRI is Xi Jinping’s pet project where he aims to reestablish the ancient land route used for trade and commerce known as the Silk Route. However, the initiative has been seen by many experts as a tool to exert political influence on weaker Asian nations and push them into a debt trap.
This did not stop countries like Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and other nations from the east Asian region from being a part of the project as they saw projects part of the BRI as tools to lift their economies.
Xi’s statement came during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering in Bangkok on Friday. At the APEC summit, Xi warned that the continent should not become an arena for big power contests.
China, however, has itself threatened the sovereignty of its neighbours Taiwan, South Korea and Japan by remaining silent about North Korea’s nuclear tests and also by its aggressive stance in the South China Sea and the Indo-Pacific, disturbing its relationship with Australia as well in the process.
The Belt and Road Initiative is also not on the priority list of Chinese foreign policy agenda because it has punished weaker economies and also threatens to worsen tensions with its neighbour India.
India at the Shanghai Cooperation Summit (SCO) held earlier this year refused to endorse the BRI at the 21st meeting of the grouping. India maintains that “connectivity projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states and respect international law.”
India criticises the BRI also because of its connection to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which passes through areas of Kashmir which have been illegally occupied by Pakistan. One of the main objectives of the BRI is to connect Gwadar port in Pakistan with Xinjiang.
India has also opposed third parties joining the CPEC saying that such actions taken by any party will be considered illegal.
(with inputs from Reuters)
Read all the Latest News here
