Tianjin: India on Monday refused to endorse China’s ambitious Belt and Road initiative (BRI), becoming the only country in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) not to support the connectivity project.

A declaration unveiled at the end of the SCO summit in this Chinese port city said Russia, Belarus, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan reaffirmed their support to the Chinese connectivity initiative.

India has not endorsed the BRI in any previous SCO meetings and summits.

The declaration said the eight member nations noted the ongoing work on the joint implementation of this project, including efforts to align the development of the Eurasian Economic Union and the BRI.

“The member states consider it important to use the potential of the countries of the region, international organisations and multilateral associations to create a broad, open, mutually beneficial and equitable space for interaction in Eurasia in accordance with the norms and principles of international law and taking into account national interests,” it said.

“In this regard, they reiterated the initiative to establish a

Greater Eurasian Partnership and expressed their readiness to develop dialogue,” it said.

India has been severely critical of the BRI as the project includes the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that passes through Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir.

In his address at the summit, PM Modi said connectivity projects that by-pass sovereignty lose both trust and meaning.

“We believe that every effort towards connectivity must uphold the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is also enshrined in the core principles of the SCO Charter,” he said.

There has been growing global criticism against the project as a number of countries are reeling under burden of debt while implementing projects relating to the initiative.

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