Global Times

South China Sea

The B&R initiative

India objects to China-Pakistan corridor

India-US deeper ties not a concern

NEW DELHI: "International media and officials" have ramped up rhetoric to stir tension between China and India, says an article in China's state-run newspaper,That rhetoric includes "alarming comments alleging that China's motive in securing theis to target the Indian Ocean", the article says."In their usual fashion, they also tried to overplay the two neighbors' border dispute in the Himalayas and their military and defense dynamics while ignoring the achievements and potential for economic cooperation between the two nations," the article adds.The state-run newspaper's editorial is attempting to get India's full support for China's Belt and Road (B&R) initiative, it appears, first by denouncing India and then by praising it. The One Belt and One Road (B&R) initiative proposes a maze of roads and corridors connecting China with Asia and Europe.Three days ago, the paper blamed PM Narendra Modi for a "changed" Indian attitude towards the initiative and for using delaying tactics."Indian strategists and the government believe there is some geostrategic design behind the 'Belt and Road' (Silk Road) initiative. Now, India has adopted opposing, delaying and hedging measures toward different parts of the initiative," Monday's article in the Global Times said.Today, in the article titled "B&R is perfect platform to bolster India-China ties", it says, "India lies at the important junction of the initiative's Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road."The sticky issue for India is that besides the Silk Road, China's broader B&R plan includes a China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).India has already conveyed its objection to CPEC as it goes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. And even for the Silk Road, India won't give a blanket endorsement to the project but will support it where the synergies of the two countries meet, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said in Beijing last year.Still, the article suggests India should do a lot more than just look at synergies."The future direction of the Sino-Indian relationship depends on whether the nations' economic activities can alleviate long-standing concerns. Industrial cooperation can not only directly benefit the growth of both countries, but can also help reduce distrust between Indians and Chinese, weaken nationalist sentiment in both societies and offer new perspectives on each other's rise."China also isn't concerned about the deepening of ties between India and the US and India and Japan, the article says, because "China and India will be drawn into defense cooperation with other countries in the current era of multipolar world dynamics." Still, both India and China "are wise enough to always keep their bilateral relations on an upward trend."The article delivers a rap on the knuckles of other countries who get involved in Sino-Indian affairs. It says that China and India are responsible powers in and of themselves."Both China and India, as responsible powers, have negotiated with each other, managed their disputes and preserved peace in the region for three decades," the article says.