Islamabad: Shahbaz Sharif, who was trying to please the Chinese Prime Minister, who had reached Islamabad to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting, called for the expansion of the BRI project. Shahbaz said that President Xi Jinping’s projects like BRI, China Pakistan Economic Corridor should be expanded. He said that through this the focus should be on roads, rail and digital infrastructure. Not only this, at the behest of China and Pakistan, BRI was also included in the joint statement of SCO, but India retaliated on this. India distanced itself from the statement supporting BRI. Whereas all the member countries of SCO have supported the joint statement on BRI. India is not a part of China’s BRI project. India has strongly opposed this. China is taking forward the CPEC project in Pakistan under BRI and is investing $60 billion. The CPEC project passes through PoK, which India opposes. India has clearly said that POK is a part of India and China’s CPEC is a violation of our sovereignty.
Jaishankar spoke fiercely in Pakistan
Not only this, Jaishankar also raised the issue of sovereignty with the Chinese Prime Minister in his speech. Without taking names, he asked China to respect this. Shehbaz Sharif also said that projects like BRI and CPEC should not be viewed with a narrow political mindset. Shahbaz’s target was India, to which Jaishankar gave a befitting reply. Giving an indirect message to Pakistan, Foreign Minister Jaishankar said that if cross-border activities are based on terrorism, extremism and separatism, then there is no possibility of cooperation in areas like trade, energy and connectivity.
Jaishankar said that cooperation should be based on mutual respect and equality and it should recognize the territorial integrity and sovereignty of nations. The External Affairs Minister led the Indian delegation to the summit of the Council of Heads of Government (CHG) of the SCO countries held in Islamabad. This conference was presided over by Pakistan Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Jaishankar said trust is important for cooperation and SCO member countries can greatly benefit if the group moves forward together. He said cooperation should be based on mutual respect and equality of sovereignty.
Jaishankar gave a strict message to China
The Indian Foreign Minister said, ‘Territorial integrity and sovereignty should be recognized in this. It should be based on genuine partnership, not a one-sided agenda. This (cooperation) cannot progress if we choose according to our own advantages in global systems, especially in the areas of trade and transit. His comment is being seen as an indirect reference to China’s aggressive behavior on important issues. Jaishankar said, ‘But most importantly, our efforts will move forward only when our commitment to the Charter remains strong. It is self-evident that peace and stability are essential for development and growth. As explained in the Charter, this means being firm and uncompromising in combating the ‘three evils’.