The sudden ‘mike failure’ at the UN Sustainable Transport Conference hosted by China from 14 to 16 October created a flutter and took several minutes to restore.
India has voiced its strong opposition to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its flagship project – the CPEC – at the just concluded second UN Sustainable Transport Conference where the Indian diplomat’s mike curiously went silent while she was highlighting New Delhi’s objection to the controversial projects.
Even the video of the next speaker began to play but it was halted by UN under-secretary-general Liu Zhenmin, the former vice foreign minister of China, who urged the Indian diplomat, Priyanka Sohoni, Second Secretary of the Indian Embassy .
“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,” Sohni said.
“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.
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 a few speakers from Sohni, a Pakistani diplomat heaped 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, said, ‘I would like to apologize for the technical glitch when the Indian representative was speaking.’
Earlier, a few speakers ahead of Sohoni, a Pakistani diplomat had showered praise on the BRI and its flagship project CPEC, terming it as a “game-changer” for the region.
Xi, who aggressively promoted BRI in the last few years, himself referred to it in his speech on the opening day of the UN conference on October 14 which focussed on promoting sustainable transport to bring down the carbon emissions.
“China will not change course in its pursuit of a new system of open economy of higher standards, and China will not waver in its resolve to promote trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation,” Xi said.
“China’s door of opening-up will only open wider, and will never be closed. China will continue to advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, strengthen infrastructure connectivity with other countries, and develop a green Silk Road and a digital Silk Road at a faster pace,” he said.