The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is viewed as a cardinal subset of China’s larger ‘One Belt One Road’ initiative. Give a brief description of CPEC and enumerate the reasons why India has distanced itself from the same. (UPSC 2018)

CPEC is a flagship corridor of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. It links Gwadar Port in Pakistan to Kashgar in Xinjiang through roads, railways, energy and special economic zones, with a planned investment of about USD 62 billion.

• Sovereignty concern: It passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, which India considers its own territory.
• Legal objection: India sees any project in this area as a violation of its sovereignty and of the 1994 Parliamentary resolution on Jammu and Kashmir.
• Lack of consent: The corridor was planned bilaterally by China and Pakistan, without India’s participation or consultation.
• Strategic threat: Gwadar may aid China’s naval reach into the Arabian Sea, raising security worries in the Indian Ocean region.
• Debt and opacity: India also fears non-transparent financing and the possibility of debt dependence for Pakistan.

Thus, India has kept away from CPEC because it combines territorial dispute, strategic unease and concerns over the credibility and fairness of the project.