By Geeta Mohan: India once again refused to endorse China's Belt and Road Initiative, becoming the only nation at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit not to sign an agreement in support of the ambitious project.
All member nations barring India supported China's BRI in a joint declaration. The declaration issued at the end of the summit, hosted by India, said Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reaffirmed their support for the BRI.
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"Reaffirming their support for China's 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI) initiative, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Russian Federation, Republic of Tajikistan and Republic of Uzbekistan note the ongoing work to jointly implement this project, including efforts to link the construction of the Eurasian Economic Union and BRI," it said.
The declaration said the member states also considered it important to ensure the implementation of the SCO Economic Development Strategy 2030 adopted by "interested member states" and projects aimed at promoting cooperation in several areas such as digital economy, finance, energy and food security and modernisation of existing international routes for road and rail transport.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his opening remarks at the summit, asserted that it is essential to respect the basic principles of the SCO charter, especially the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states, while making efforts to boost connectivity.
The summit, chaired by PM Modi, was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif and other leaders of the grouping.
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brucewayneflash on July 5th, 2023 at 18:44 UTC »
Article fails to mention Modi government's alternative to BRI , it pushed for chabahar port (iran) deal.
Another important note is that Russia, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan all supported BRI.
Interested members: which means everyone other than India will be applying for "strategy 2030" (very vague name). There is no point for India staying in SCO, BRI or BRICS.
Welph008 on July 5th, 2023 at 17:13 UTC »
India refusing to endorse China's BRI is pretty consistent and not very surprising. India is going to focus on the INSTC.
On a side note, found a video of Modi's remarks at SCO. Posted in the PMO India channel in the live broadcast section if you want to search for it yourself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W1w-yOvHnY
slightlylong on July 5th, 2023 at 14:47 UTC »
India is in an interesting spot. Economic policy under Modi has turned to sharp protectionism in recent years, trying for "Made in India" and import substitution.
It often backs out of larger trade agreements in Asia due to fear of opening up and crushing their own industries. India's insistence on saying no to anything that isn't in line with their increasingly protectionist stance is a problem.
This isn't very conducive to investment from the outside and the general conditions in India regarding foreign companies and taxation as well as enforcement of their rather lengthy laws and procedures are not very smooth to begin with.
According to the "Global Business Environment Report" by the World Bank, India continues to be one of the more difficult terrains for any foreign business to operate in.
Even though with the movement in the West of trying to lessen their China-dependence, India hasn't been able to take advantage of it as of now, even though Western companies have actually tried.
Ford for example has tried for many years but decided to exit the Indian market and sell its assets. Blackstone Group has announced they want to exit the Indian market although they have backed away from a quick exit to wait for better pricing.
India's economic policy sure is quite autonomous but they aren't exactly making things easier for themselves.