One Belt, One Road not international venture: India

[Hindustani78]

It is an international venture if it has at least two countries

Without solving the border dispute with Republic of India , OBOR is not going to be successful.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...South-Asian-strategic-Arc/article17282572.ece
The U.S. must persuade Pakistan to end its “policy of safe havens to terrorist groups,” he says at The Hindu’s “The Huddle” conclave in Bengaluru.
Afghanistan’s former President Hamid Karzai on Friday called for a stronger role for India in regional peace, given the “confusing” signals from the United States, and emphasised need for a “strategic arc” in South Asia.

Speaking at The Hindu’s first “The Huddle” conclave in Bengaluru, Mr. Karzai drew out the contours of the arc for security in the region, which would run from Iran to Russia and China, calling India the “lynchpin” of South Asia.

“The United States, at the present juncture, is sending out signals of confusion, arbitrariness, even distress,” warned Mr. Karzai, in the keynote address, entitled “Strategic Arc for South Asia: Why we need it”.

“But it [the U.S.] is still the world’s single most powerful country, capable of more destruction than any other power, should it be led that way in its anxiety,” he noted.

However, answering questions from the Chairman of Kasturi and Sons Ltd., N. Ram, he hoped that there would be an opportunity for the U.S. to reverse its policy on Afghanistan under the new U.S. President Donald Trump, particularly with better U.S.-Russia ties.

Mr. Karzai called for a revision in the U.S.’s Pakistan policy. He said the U.S. must persuade Pakistan to end its “policy of safe havens to terrorist groups”. “I love the people of Pakistan, but its military supports terrorists and extremists across the border from us. The U.S. must stop this,” he said.

His words come a day after the commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, called for a “holistic review” of the U.S.'s relations with Pakistan at a Senate committee meeting, indicating a tougher strategy with Islamabad.

Mr. Karzai’s words are also significant as they signal a shift from the U.S.-centric security structure for Afghanistan, where America has led anti-terror and peacekeeping efforts in Afghanistan since it defeated the Taliban regime in 2001, and denote a move towards Russia and China, which have not been major players in Afghanistan since the 1980s.

Mr. Karzai said, “Russia and China are not in South Asia. But they are our immediate neighbours. Their actions impact us, and ours them. If we are able to incorporate them in a virtuous arc, if we throw our weight behind resolving any bilateral hurdles within this arc that distort relationships, then we may be well on our way to taking meaningful steps forward.”

In particular, Mr. Karzai said India must consider joining the China One Belt One Road (OBOR) project which, if combined with India’s Afghanistan-Iran trilateral project for the Chabahar port to link them, would be what he called a “win-win” situation for all. India has resisted calls from Beijing to connect about 10,000 km of highways across Asia and Europe so far, objecting to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that runs through Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
“With Pakistan blocking India’s access to Afghanistan and Central Asia, OBOR and Chabahar projects are the only alternative to India,” Mr. Karzai concluded.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/india/dona...o-pacific-unstable-ex-navy-chief_1977589.html
PTI | Last Updated: Wednesday, February 15, 2017 - 20:10
Hyderabad: Advocating a nuanced approach towards China, former Navy Chief Admiral Arun Prakash today said a possible radical shift in US policies under the Trump administration could trigger instability in the Indo-Pacific and asked New Delhi to seek multi-lateral partnerships within the strategic region.



Till recently, the Indo-US relationship seemed to be following a mutually-beneficial trajectory that could have ensured a stable balance-of-power and peace in the Indo- Pacific, he said here.
However, the election of President Donald Trump has signalled a radical shift in many of America's long-standing policies which could result in heightened tension and instability in the region, the ex-Chief of the Naval Staff.

He was delivering a talk on `Security Issues in Indo-Pacific India's Response' at an international conference on `Changing Security Dynamic in the Indo-Pacific'.

"In the approaching era of uncertainty, it would be unwise for India to put all its eggs in any one basket and prudence demands it should seek multi-lateral partnerships within the region," he said, calling for a nuanced approach towards Beijing.

India's trade links, investment and diaspora today span an arc extending from Siberia and New Zealand to its east to Africa and Central Asia to its west, Prakash said.
"Any attempts (by China) to dominate waters of the Indo-Pacific would represent a grave threat to India's vital interests.

"While we lack the deep pockets and dynamism that underpins Chinese overseas initiatives, the India Navy has concluded formal agreements whereby its warships, submarines and aircraft can put into about 25-30 friendly ports across the Indo-Pacific for operational or other reasons."

"China's footholds in Indian Ocean locations, dubbed the 'string of pearls', are meant to provide it a network of port facilities, which could support long-range maritime operations," the Navy veteran said.

The 'Maritime Silk Road', a component of the 'One Road One Belt' initiative, pursues an even more ambitious agenda by creating a huge arc of maritime and economic influence across the region, according to him.

"The deployment of PLA Navy submarines in the Indian Ocean, that commenced in 2013-14, was a clear indication China seeks to not only gain strategic superiority across the Himalayas, but also to establish maritime dominance in the Indian Ocean with the Pakistani port of Gwadar as a key logistic base," Prakash explained.


"Commencement of work on the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) project will further tilt the balance against India."


First Published: Wednesday, February 15, 2017 - 20:10

 

[Indus Pakistan]

Chabahar port

Tell me when you get permission from Trump to lay one ...

 

[Peshwa]

Tell me when you get permission from Trump to lay one ...

https://www.google.com/amp/m.ndtv.com/world-news/chabahar-port-expected-to-open-in-a-month-afghan-consul-general-1659087?amp=1&akamai-rum=off

If the afghans are to be believed, it seems they have laid more than a brick.
But as with all such news, I'll wait until the port operations officially begin before popping the bubbly and I suggest Kaptaan to hold off on making any outlandish bets in the meantime!

 

[Dungeness]

Without solving the border dispute with Republic of India , OBOR is not going to be successful.

You would be right if India were the center of universe. We know that India is playing an important role in world affair, but a statement like this shows nothing more than the ignorance and arrogance of some of your lot, and it shed bad light on India as a whole.

 

[Thorough Pro]

Height of obsession of insecurity. Who the **** is India to define a Chinese initiative? Do the Chinese even give a **** to Indians?

One Belt, One Road not international venture: India
New Delhi: July 21, 2015, DHNS:

India has hardened its position on the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative of China, calling it a national initiative of the communist country and not an international venture.

New Delhi made it clear that it viewed OBOR initiative distinctly from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which was also conceived by Beijing, but was being set up by over 50 nations collectively.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar made it clear that New Delhi viewed OBOR as the one designed by Beijing in pursuit of its own strategic objectives, but not as an inclusive one in which opinions of other “interested or affected” countries had not been taken into account.

“Where we are concerned, this (OBOR) is a national Chinese initiative,” Jaishankar said in Singapore on Monday. He was replying to questions after delivering a lecture at the International Institute of Strategic Studies.

“The Chinese devised it, created a blueprint (for it). It was not an international initiative they discussed with the whole world, or with the countries which in someway or the other have opinions (about it) or which are affected by it,” he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has since 2013 been articulating the idea of a “21st century Maritime Silk Road” reviving economic connectivity between the Pacific and Indian Oceans and linking China’s coastline with Southeast Asia, the Gulf and the eastern coast of Africa. He has also been proposing a “Silk Road Economic Belt” reviving the ancient link between China and Mediterranean through central Asia.

The two projects are now together called OBOR initiative and China has been pulling all stops over the past year to elicit support from other countries.

Beijing’s new plan to spread its tentacles further in the Indian Ocean region and Central Asia, however, caused unease in New Delhi, which has already been wary of China’s strategic assets encircling India.

“If this (OBOR) is something on which they want a larger buy in, then they need to have larger discussions, and those have not happened,” he said, apparently indicating that Beijing had not taken New Delhi into confidence before launching the mega plan.

He also pointed out that the OBOR and the AIIB were different in nature. “We had no reservation about joining the AIIB,” he said, adding that India’s decision to join the AIIB was based on “a very sensible calculation” that the bank would provide a new source of financing.

 

[neem456]

You would be right if India were the center of universe. We know that India is playing an important role in world affair, but a statement like this shows nothing more than the ignorance and arrogance of some of your lot, and it shed bad light on India as a whole.

You shouldn't be protesting in front of us really if you think india is so umimportant to china.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/worl...accuses-india-of-trying-to-sabotage-cpec.html
Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said that India was openly opposing the CPEC that links China's Xinjiang with Pak's Gwadar port.

Pakistan last week had claimed that India was building a "secret nuclear city" and accumulated a stockpile of nuclear weapons which threatens to undermine the strategic balance of power in the region. (Photo: Representational Image)
Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday accused India of trying to "sabotage" the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Foreign Office Spokesman Nafees Zakaria said that India was openly opposing the CPEC that links China's Xinjiang region with Pakistan's Gwadar port.


"We are aware of Indian government's plans to sabotage CPEC," he said, adding "India's interference in Pakistan is not concealed."

Zakaria said Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who was arrested in Balochistan last year on charges of spying, had admitted of making an attempt to affect the work on CPEC, Zakaria said.

He claimed that India has been involved in terrorist activities in Pakistan.

"We have taken issue to the UN Secretary General about involvement of India in terrorist activities in Pakistan."

He also accused India of endangering regional peace through it military buildup.

"Indian defence buildup is not in the interest of the region," Zakaria said.

"It is a matter of grave concern and endangering the peace in the region and disturbing the strategic balance."

Pakistan last week had claimed that India was building a "secret nuclear city" and accumulated a stockpile of nuclear weapons which threatens to undermine the strategic balance of power in the region.

He also alleged that Indian atrocities against Kashmiris are continuing unabated and said that Pakistan was committed to the Kashmiris' legitimate movement for self-determination.

He also accused India of "violating ceasefire on the Line of Control and Working Boundary resulting into loss of precious civilian lives".

He said Pakistan has repeatedly lodged protest with India in this regard.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/india/fore...ls-amid-differences-on-nsg-azhar_1979379.html

Beijing: Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar will arrive here tomorrow for crucial talks with top Chinese officials amid differences over issues like India's NSG bid and China's blocking of efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN.


Jaishankar, who served as the Indian envoy to China from 2009 to 2013, the longest tenure by an Indian diplomat in Beijing, will begin his visit tomorrow by meeting State Councillor Yang Jiechi, Beijing's Special Representative for India-China border talks, official sources told PTI.

In the Chinese official hierarchy, the State Councillor of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) is regarded as the top diplomat functioning directly under the country's leadership.

Besides attending an upgraded strategic dialogue with China's Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui on February 22, Jaishankar is also expected to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Underlining the significance of the strategic dialogue, which was upgraded during Wang's visit to New Delhi last year, Chinese side has deputed Zhang, who is also the head of the influential CPC committee of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Zhang, a former Chinese envoy to the US, mostly deals with issues related to China's tenuous ties with America as well as Taiwan related affairs -- both key areas of concern to Beijing.

Ahead of the talks, China appeared unrelenting in its opposition to efforts to get Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Azhar banned by the UN and ambivalent on India's membership to the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Putting the onus on India to prove Azhar's involvement in the Pathankot terrorist attack, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters here last week that China will back the move to designate him as a terrorist only if there is "solid evidence" against him.

China last year put a technical hold twice on India's application to get Azhar banned by the UN.

This year, the US moved the proposal in the UNSC to designate Azhar as a terrorist. China once again has put a technical hold on the move.

Also, another issue weighing on the bilateral relationship is the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) over which India has protested as it passes through Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (Azad Kashmir).

China defends the project, saying that it is a development oriented project aimed at improving lives of the local people and it makes no difference to its stand that the Kashmir issue should be resolved by India and Pakistan bilaterally.


First Published: Monday, February 20, 2017 - 19:37

 

[Hindustani78]

http://indianexpress.com/article/world/15000-pakistani-military-personnel-protecting-cpec-4536689/
By: PTI | Islamabad | Published:February 21, 2017 8:42 pm

Pakistan has deployed 15,000 specially-trained military personnel to ensure the safety of foreigners and others working for the USD 48 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, according to a senior lawmaker overseeing the ambitious project. The government has deployed 15,000 military personnel, as part of the Special Security Division (SSD) and Maritime Security Force (MSF), to protect projects under the umbrella of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on CPEC, said.

Both forces will work under the Interior Ministry, in coordination with the provinces, to ensure the safety of locals and foreigners working on CPEC projects, Sayed was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper.

“The SSD is a force that will provide security to 34 CPEC related projects, while the MSF will safeguard the Gwadar port and other coastal areas of the country,” he said.

The SSD had been deployed in six zones from Gwadar to Gilgit-Baltistan, including all four provinces and Azad Kashmir (Azad Kashmir).

The CPEC is a mega network of roads, rail links, power plants and other infrastructure connecting western China’s Xinjiang province to Pakistan’s southern port of Gwadar.

One of the main concerns of China was the delay in the deployment of the Special Security Division for the CPEC.

Regional security could be the biggest issue to the CPEC as it passes through some of the areas facing the biggest security challenges, experts have said.

“Under its terms of reference, the SSD will be responsible for the security of the area within a 5km radius of CPEC-related projects,” he said.

In addition, the SSD will also patrol different areas of the corridor, especially where road-building projects are under way.


Both the SSD and MSF were formed in view of possible threats to the USD 48 billion CPEC and the foreign nationals presently engaged in infrastructure and power generation projects being commissioned under its umbrella.

He said the SSD and MSF were raised over the course of a year and that both forces were equipped with state-of-the-art weapons, equipment and vehicles.

“Most SSD personnel are serving armymen,” he added.

China has not only rebuilt the strategic Gwadar port under the CPEC but also has its operational control. China is also building a network of roads and railways to link up its remote western region of Xinjiang to Gwadar for easier access to the Arabian Sea.

The revamped Gwadar port became operational in November last year.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/597707/azhars-actions-well-documented-india.html
India today hit out at China for demanding "solid evidence" for getting JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN, saying the extent of his actions were "well- documented" and the "burden of proof" was not on it.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, while briefing the media on his extensive interactions with top Chinese officials and talks at the upgraded strategic dialogue co-chaired by him here, said the talks were "useful" in conveying India's concerns and priorities on key issues.

"On the issue of 1267 Committee's sanctions on Masood Azhar, we again explained the rationale for that application and pointed out that this was really pursued by other countries, not by India alone," Jaishankar said, referring to the US' application backed by the UK and France this year to designate Azhar as a global terrorist.

On the Chinese Foreign Ministry calling for "solid eveidence" to get Azhar banned, Jaishankar said, "in the case of Azhar, Jaish itself is proscribed under 1267. So the proof is in (the) 1267 Committee action. In this case what he has done, extent of his actions are well-documented."

"Also the proposal in question this time is not moved by us. It is not that the burden of proof is on India to convince. The sponsors seem to be very well convinced, otherwise they would not have taken the initiative to move the proposal," he said.

About China saying that there is no consensus on the issue, the Foreign Secretary said, "there is no consensus because China has not joined it". Since the 1267 Committee proceedings are not public, he said, "Our understanding is that there is overwhelming support in the 1267 (Committee). This (is) what we are told".

"Other countries should be asked. The 1267 Committee is not for public. Our understanding (is that) there is overwhelming support in the 1267 (Committee). This (is) what we are told," Jaishankar said.

"On the NSG issue, (the) Chinese side underlined that they are open to India's application for membership. They have their view of procedures and processes. These were different from where we are at the moment and most of the group is at the moment," he said, referring to the wide support India's application enjoyed in the 48-member elite grouping which controls global nuclear commerce.

"I would say, overall, I felt my visit was certainly useful in conveying to the Chinese side our concerns and priorities and gaining from them an appreciation and their understanding of the world situation and in what manner we could work together," he said.

Besides holding talks with China's top diplomat Yang Jiechi yesterday, Jaishankar met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi this morning before co-chairing the strategic dialogue with Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui.

This is the first time China has fielded an executive Vice Minister who is also the head of the Foreign Ministry unit of the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://zeenews.india.com/india/chin...s-representation-in-beijing-meet_1983482.html

New Delhi: China on Saturday made a fresh pitch to New Delhi to join its ambitious economic corridor project that passes through Pakistan and said India will immensely benefit as CPEC aspires to boost regional connectivity.

One major concern for India is that the project passes through Azad Kashmir (Azad Kashmir).

But China has been trying to rope in India, a major economic powerhouse, without which Beijing's Belt and Road initiative may seem a distant dream.

China's National People's Congress (NPC) spokesperson Fu Ying said India will benefit from the project as "The Belt and Road (initiative) is a connectivity programme for economic development".

"So we need to bear in mind the larger picture," India Today quoted Fu as saying.

Fu's remarks came a day ahead of the annual 10-day session of the NPC, which will approve economic policies for the next year, the report said.

During the February 22 strategic dialogue in Beijing, China had once again expressed interest in India's sending a representative to a BRI summit.

India's visiting Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar had conveyed to China that the CPEC was part of China's Belt and Road Initiative and "violates Indian sovereignty because it runs through Azad Kashmir".


"The issue is not about connectivity per se," Jaishankar said.

Replying to a question on the recently concluded India-China strategic dialogue in Beijing regarding China's stand on Masood Azhar and India's BRI concerns, Fu said it was natural to have differences but both sides "need to be more sensitive to each other's concerns, so we can better address them."

"We cannot allow issues that cannot be worked out for the moment to stop us from moving forward," he added.

Fu, a former Vice Foreign Minister, said bilateral ties have "advanced rapidly", particularly on the trade front - from around $2 billion in 1990s to $70 billion last year.

"I thought I would never see $20 billion in my lifetime, and last year it exceeded $70 billion," she said.


First Published: Saturday, March 4, 2017 - 19:15

 

[Super Falcon]

What you expect from narrow minded state

 

[Kiss_of_the_Dragon]

Without solving the border dispute with Republic of India , OBOR is not going to be successful.

LMAO, OBOR is not depend on India blessing unless you claim to set blockade of our maritime route...that's another story, but with or without Indian won't make any different.