US slams China on CPEC project; says it passes through disputed territory

NewsBharati    04-Oct-2017
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Washington, October 4: Pakistan and China are the two nations which always try to hurt the sovereignty of India. Pakistan with terrorism while China with business, economy and border disputes like CPEC project, Doklam standoff etc but strong Indian diplomacy has blocked ways of both the neighbouring countries. China has got a major setback this time after the United States slammed Beijing over China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), saying it passes through a disputed territory and no country should put itself into a position of dictating the Belt and Road initiative.

 

After returning from his maiden trip to India US Defence Secretary James Mattis slammed China over CPEC project. Mattis while addressing the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing said, “In a globalized world, there are many belts and many roads, and no one nation should put itself into a position of dictating ‘one belt, one road’.”

During the Congressional hearing, Senator Charles Peters asked Mattis, “The One Belt One Road strategy seeks to secure China’s control over both the continental and the maritime interest, in their eventual hope of dominating Eurasia and exploiting natural resources there, things that are certainly at odds with US policy. So what role do you see China playing in Afghanistan, and particularly related to their One Belt One Road.”

While Mattis responded to a question over OBOR and China’s policy and said, “That said, the One Belt One Road also goes through the disputed territory, and I think, that in itself shows the vulnerability of trying to establish that sort of a dictate.” Interestingly, India also skipped the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in May this year due to its sovereignty concerns over the nearly USD 60 billion CPEC which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).