China's influential state-owned tabloid has called on India to overcome all the hesitations regarding its participation in the$ 46 billion China - Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).  New Delhi has cited the CPEC's passage through the disputed Kashmir region for its unwillingness to participate in the multi-billion dollar project.

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The Global times, which is known for taking a strident stance against India, urged the Indian government to allow the economic benefits to supersede its political concerns with regards to its participation in the multi-billion dollar CPEC project.      

The nationalistic tabloid advocated India to take some inspiration from the immensely strained cross-strait relations where political acrimony has not hindered their economic decisions and choices.  

"Just like the Taiwan question, Beijing doesn't object to any economic links between Taiwan and other countries including India, because economic activities won't alter China's sovereignty over the island," it said.  

The op-ed then made a similar comparison between the CPEC & Kashmir issue as it categorically said that India's participation in "CPEC won't affect the status quo of Kashmir disputes. The project itself is an economic plan set to connect China and Pakistan."

It also tired to assure the Indian government that investment and participation by Chinese companies will in no way affect the Kashmir region and therefore it should not have any reservations over its participation in economic activities conducted by the Chinese companies.  

The tabloid made no qualms about advising India that it must even allow the CPEC to come into the Indian administrated Kashmir as this would help in solving the region's cumbersome poverty.

CPEC Touted as Economic Boon for Pakistan  

The Chinese-funded CPEC project is an expensive infrastructure project inclusive of a vast network of highways and railways passing through the length and breadth of Pakistan. These inter-related projects of highways and railways essentially connect Pakistan's Gwadar seaport in Balochistan province with China's Xinjiang region.

The ambitious project, which was partly inaugurated by Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sahrif last year, is expected to change the economic destiny of the region. Sahrif called the project as a game changer that would unlock Pakistan's latent economic potential.

However, India has always seen the multi-billion dollar project as a political tool that will help China in getting a strategic footprint in the South Asian region. Most Indian analysts see the CPEC as a part of China's much talked about String of Pearls strategy that aims to surround India on all four sides through military and commercial facilities in the Indian Ocean region.

TagsIndia, India and China, CPEC Project, India and Pakistan, China - Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)