SCO Summit: India only member country to not endorse China's OBOR project

India on Sunday declined to endorse Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet One Belt, One Road (OBOR) project as part of a joint declaration at the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Qingdao, the only member in the eight-nation bloc to do so, according to reports.

The move is in line with New Delhi’s policy of not compromising on territorial issues, top sources in the government said.

India has termed OBOR, also called the Silk Road project, as a threat to its sovereignty over concerns on its flagship project — the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The 3,000-km CPEC is aimed at connecting China and Pakistan with rail, road, pipelines and optical fibre cable networks.

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It will connect Xinjiang province with Gwadar port, providing China with access to the Arabian Sea. The project, when completed, would enable China to route its oil supplies from the Middle East through pipelines to Xinjiang, cutting considerable distance for Chinese ships to travel to China.

India had also stayed clear of the joint communique by member countries during the foreign ministers’ meet in Beijing in April this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 18th SCO Summit in Qingdao over the weekend, marking India’s first participation as its full member.

Modi held a bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit and shook hands with Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain.