At China-led regional summit, India refuses to back Beijing’s infrastructure vision

Name: US and India agree on defence cooperation road map in the face of China’s regional influence
Uploaded: 2023-07-05T15:00:14.000Z
Duration: 2 min 42 s
Description: US and India agree on defence cooperation road map in the face of China’s regional influence

At the SCO summit, India refuses to endorse statements promoting China’s Belt and Road Initiative

India is more concerned with ‘divergent priorities’. ‘They’ve always said it was a bad idea,’ analyst says

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India’s leader used the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit to press for more cooperation against regional terrorism. Photo: EPA-EFE

Hayley Wong

Published: 11:00pm, 5 Jul 2023Updated: 9:58pm, 6 Jul 2023

Corrected [9:52pm, 6 Jul, 2023]

[9:52pm, 6 Jul, 2023]
This article was amended to remove a reference to Iran not backing the belt and road strategy. As a new member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation it did not sign.

Despite a pitch from Chinese President Xi Jinping, India refused to back his signature Belt and Road Initiative during a summit chaired by India, a move experts had expected.

During the virtual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit on Tuesday, Xi said the infrastructure project would facilitate regional cooperation, and trade and investment, and he called for better coordination in Belt and Road projects.

In a joint declaration, India, which has just completed its one-year presidency of the SCO, did not support the belt and road strategy.

“The statement has been like this since India joined SCO as a full member in 2017. India does not quite agree with endorsing China’s [Belt and Road Initiative] in the joint declaration, and it has its own version of infrastructure development projects. China has expected the lack of backing from India,” said Zhu Yongbiao, a professor at Lanzhou University’s School of Politics and International Relations.

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US and India agree on defence cooperation road map in the face of China’s regional influence

“Instead, the declaration showed the SCO is about seeking common ground while preserving differences,” he said.