With the United Kingdom endorsing the $46-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), India should shed its concerns over it and sign-up for the Silk Road project, state media in Beijing said on Friday.

“The U.K. is poised to be a key partner of CPEC” and will host a conference in Islamabad in May, an article in the state-run Global Times said. “The news offers a positive signal that the CPEC has received an increasing amount of attention from developed economies.”

‘U.K. to be key partner’

The U.K.’s International Trade Minister Greg Hands held a roundtable with leading British businesses, policy experts and senior representatives of the Chinese and Pakistani governments earlier this week.

“The U.K. is poised to be a key partner of the CPEC,” an official British government statement said in an endorsement of the project even though it goes through the Gilgit and Baltistan area of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) over which India has protested.

“New Delhi is yet to sign up for the Belt & Road (Silk Road) initiative and has claimed that the CPEC violates its sovereignty because it passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir,” the Global Times article said.

China’s huge CPEC investment

“China’s enormous investment in the CPEC has become an inharmonious factor in Sino-Indian ties. However, it would be unwise to think that increasing investment in the CPEC means a lack of respect for India’s sovereignty,” it said.

The article said that such ideas could lead to unnecessary opposition between India and the West as developed countries show an increased interest in the CPEC and China’s Belt and Road (B&R) initiative.

“The CPEC is simply an economic project. Beijing has no intention to use to the B&R initiative to recognise any geopolitical spheres of influence. Hopefully China’s open mind towards cooperation on the B&R initiative can help dispel misgivings held by India and some other countries,” it said.

There is great potential for developed economies, like the U.K., to join CPEC and other projects in B&R initiative, it has said.

“China is likely to welcome enterprises from the U.K. and other developed nations to participate in construction of the CPEC, which has long been seen a flagship project in the B&R initiative,” the article said.

Platform for China

The B&R initiative not only provides a platform for China and countries along the route to enhance cooperation, but also adheres to the principle of openness and inclusiveness in global economic development, it has said.

Currently, China is encouraging wider participation from developed economies in the initiative, it said.

In March, New Zealand signed a cooperation agreement with China on the B&R initiative, a first for Western developed countries.

A B&R initiative summit, to be held in Beijing in May, will also provide an opportunity to enhance cooperation between China and developed countries, the article said.

Pak luring investors?

The steady development of the CPEC has made Pakistan more attractive to foreign investment, it has claimed.

Some Western developed countries, as the traditional foreign trade partners of many emerging economies along the B&R initiative, have a clear intent to increase trade with those countries, Pakistan included, it said.

Additionally, Pakistan’s nuclear power sector and other high-tech industries are also likely to gain more opportunities if developed economies participate in the construction of the CPEC, the article said.