China will be forced to intervene if any action from India leads to disruption in the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Balochistan, warns an influential Chinese think tank.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reference to Balochistan has become a major concern for China and its scholars, including Hu Shisheng, the Director of the Institute of South and Southeast Asian and Oceanian Studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations.

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Shisheng is associated with one of the country's most powerful think tanks, which is also is affiliated with the Ministry of State Security. In his interview, the expert also said that India's strengthening military ties with the U.S. as well as its stance on the South China Sea dispute has also become a cause for concern for China.

"The latest concern for Beijing is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech from the Red Fort in which he referred to the issues like Kashmir (occupied by Pakistan) and Balochistan," Hu said, according to Firstpost.

"It could be regarded as a watershed moment in India's policy towards Pakistan. Why Chinese scholars are concerned is because this is for the first time India has mentioned it," he added.

Hu further stated that China is worried that India might use "anti-government" elements in Pakistan's Balochistan region, where Beijing is constructing the $46 million CPEC project.

"If this kind of plot causes damage to the CPEC, China will have to get involved," he said, if India backs separatists in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The CPEC is a series of projects that connect China's Xinjiang province to Pakistan's Gwadar port in Balochistan. India has strongly opposed the economic corridor as it passes through Gilgit-Baltistan and PoK, which India has claimed sovereignty over.   

Hu also pointed out that India's growing military relations with the U.S. and the recent agreement over the logistics treaty, Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA), has also raised alarm bells in China.

India's interference in the South China Sea debate has further raised tensions between India and China, according to Hu.

"In the past, India's stand on the South China Sea was impartial. India is getting more and more involved. This attitude is another concern for China," he noted.

"Our problem is with the US. We can see India is becoming more vocal in issuing joint statements with the US and Japan on the South China Sea," he added.

In a case brought on by the Philippines, the Permanent Court of Arbitration dismissed China's territorial claims over nearly 90 percent of the South China Sea, which overlaps with several South Asian countries including Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

TagsIndia, china, Pakistan, Balochistan, South China Sea, China warns India, CPEC, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, POK