India’s relationship with China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an unusual one. On the one hand, New Delhi is resistant to the programme because it argues that China is financing projects on land claimed by both India and Pakistan. On the other hand, some analysts argue China-led projects in India exist anyway and even match BRI criteria.
India’s finance minister, Arun Jaitley, believes the BRI violates India’s sovereignty. “[There are] sovereignty issues. We are not a part of the project. And the proposed [BRI] road passes through what we regard as Indian territory,” says Mr Jaitley, referring to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a flagship BRI project that crosses the Gilgit-Baltistan area of Kashmir. Both India and Pakistan claim the entire Kashmir region.
