Beijing: A sudden ‘mike failure’ at the UN meet hosted by China occurred while the Indian diplomat was strongly opposing China’s ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) and its ambitious project CPEC. Diplomat Priyanka Sohoni, Second Secretary of the Indian Embassy was voicing the concerns of India, to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its flagship project CPEC, at the just concluded second UN Sustainable Transport Conference which was held from October 14 to 16, at Beijing.
The video of the next speaker began to play but it was stopped by UN under-secretary-general Liu Zhenmin, the former vice foreign minister of China, who insisted the Indian diplomat to continue her speech. He also apologized for the technical glitch that took place during the speech.
‘We share the aspiration of the international community to increase physical connectivity and we believe this will bring wider economic benefits for all in an equitable and balanced manner. Some mention of BRI has been made in this conference. Here I would like to say that as far as China’s BRI is concerned, we have been disproportionately affected by it. Its inclusion in the so-called China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infringes on India’s sovereignty’,Sohni said in the meet.
She added that the BRI aims to increase China’s influence and connect Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe through a network of land and sea routes. ‘No country can support an initiative that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity’, Sohni said. Before Sohni, a Pakistani diplomat mounded praises on the BRI and CPEC and called it crucial for the region. At the same time, after the speech of the Indian diplomat, Chinese Transport Minister Li Xiopeng, while responding to the criticism made by Sohni, apologised for the technical error happened during the speech.
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The BRI is a multi-billion-dollar initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping when he came to power in 2013. It aims to enhance China’s influence and also link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes. India has been vocally opposing the project, as it is being laid through the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK).
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