What kind of dialogue India wants on OBOR, asks China

Team Udayavani, May 16, 2017, 3:25 PM IST

Beijing (China): China today took strong exception to India’s stand on its Belt and Road initiative, saying it was welcome to participate in the mega project but New Delhi should explain what kind of “meaningful dialogue” it wants Beijing to hold with it.

“Over the past four years since the project was initiated we have been holding the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits” for the Belt and Road initiative, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, reacting to Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Gopal Bagley’s remarks that China should hold a meaningful dialogue on concerns over the One Belt One Road (OBOR) project.

“I do not know what the spokesperson (of MEA was) trying to say. What kind of dialogue is a meaningful dialogue. What kind of a positive attitude the spokesman wants China to hold?” Hua said when asked for her reaction to Bagley’s remarks a day before the two-day Belt and Road Forum.

India boycotted the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) held from May 14-15. The meeting was attended by 29 world leaders, including Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

India skipped the meeting due to its sovereignty concerns over the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).