New Delhi: In apparent retaliation to the Chinese snub on the NSG membership bid and Masood Azhar issues, India seems set to boycott the two-day conference in Beijing starting Sunday on China’s giant "One Belt One Road" (OBOR) global initiative.
Barring the remote possibility of a last-minute rethink of sending a diplomat from the Indian embassy there for the conference, a new schism in Sino-Indian relations now seems certain.
China was extremely keen that India attended the conference but New Delhi has almost made up its mind. Government sources said India’s participation was “unlikely”.
India was infuriated at China’s move to block India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) through the fig leaf of seeking a policy first on admission of non-NPT signatory nations and also blocking UN sanctions on Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar.
Chinese scholars have been issuing dire warnings on how India would be isolated as both the United States and other South Asian nations like Nepal and Sri Lanka have decided to participate in the OBOR meet. But New Delhi seems unfazed. India’s move to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh and to allow a US Congressional delegation to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala are clear indications of New Delhi sending a clear message to Beijing that it is upset.
Significantly, in the past few weeks, in response to media queries, the external affairs ministry had said the Chinese invitation to attend the OBOR conference was “under consideration”. But as of now, New Delhi does not seem to have responded either in the affirmative or negative.
