Beijing’s outreach | The Indian Express

Beijing’s outreach | The Indian Express

By Editorial |Updated: April 29, 2019 1:45:27 am

Beijing’s outreach

China signals willingness to address criticism of BRI, India should take a fresh look at the initiative, nuance its approach.

At the second forum, Xi sought to reassure the world that BRI is about partnership rather than the pursuit of unilateral advantage.

The second forum on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that concluded in Beijing over the weekend suggests a subtle shift in China’s framing of the ambitious initiative outlined by President Xi Jinping in 2013. Beijing’s earlier articulation of the gigantic plan to promote global connectivity through China’s investments had a “take-it-or-leave-it” approach. Xi’s conciliatory tone this time around underlined China’s eagerness to respond to the widespread international criticism of the BRI. Many countries and institutions — including India, Japan, Europe and the United States — voiced concerns that the BRI is motivated by China’s ambition to expand its geopolitical influence at the expense of other powers. There has also been widespread criticism that the BRI projects were pushing recipient states into a debt trap, unsustainable environmentally, not transparent enough, and violating international norms.