China's OBOR fails to get global traction, faces opposition from big nations

NEW DELHI: India was not alone in raising a red flag over the strategic and economic implications of China’s much vaunted One Belt One Road (OBOR), when it decided to skip the just concluded summit in Beijing.

Of the 64 countries identified by China along the OBOR initiative, only 20 countries were represented by their top leaders and 44 other nations sent ministers for the May 14-16 mega show. Incidentally nine other nations whose top leaders were present in Beijing for the summit are not in the list of 64 countries.

A joint communique outlining outcomes from the summit would reflect that China could not push its entire agenda in a unilateral fashion it would have originally envisaged, pointed out experts who have followed OBOR initiative since it was conceived. ET has learnt that leaders, ministers and officials from Germany, France, England, Greece, Portugal and Estonia had objections to the original text of the communique over issues of transparency and environmental protection.


While Russian President Vladimir Putin called for more negotiations on the project on day one the summit, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta also felt that there should be more transparency in the entire process to implement OBOR. The final Communique from the summit referred to key international principles including issue of sovereignty that India advocated. CPEC passing through PoK was one of key reasons that influenced India to skip the Summit.

“Consultation on an equal footing: Honouring the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law including respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries; formulating cooperation plans and advancing cooperation projects through consultation,” is what the communique read.

“We endeavour to expand people-topeople exchanges, promote peace, justice, inclusiveness, democracy, good governance, the rule of law, human rights, gender equality and women empowerment; work together to fight against corruption and bribery in all their forms,” read a section of the communique.

ET View: India Must Use Its Soft Power
India needs to be proactive in dealing with China’s mega project, especially since Beijing has made it clear that the Pakistan-China economic corridor is a flagship of the One Belt, One Road mega project. New Delhi must build partnerships with countries that are also concerned about the strategic geo-political and economic implications of this venture. India needs to work with partner countries to provide an alternative model one that is based on mutually beneficial partnerships, respectful of sovereignty of countries. New Delhi must leverage its soft power to this end.