US backs India on OBOR |
The Donald Trump administration threw its weight behind India`s opposition to the 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. India skipped the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) in May this year due to its sovereignty concerns over the nearly $60 billion CPEC, a flagship project of China`s prestigious One Belt One Road (OBOR), which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Having returned from his maiden trip to India last week wherein he met his counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis appeared to be a strong opponent of China`s ambitious OBOR initiative. In a globalised world, there are many belts and many roads, and no one nation should put itself into a position of dictating `one belt, one road`, Mattis told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee during a Congressional hearing.
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