By Shannon Tiezzi
Aware of New Delhi’s mistrust, Beijing is trying to link its MSR to India’s own Project Mausam.
Last September, as Chinese President Xi Jinping promoted the Maritime Silk Road (MSR) during a tour of Indian Ocean states, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepared to launch India’s own plan for maritime integration: Project Mausam. That initiative envisions India as the center of the “Indian Ocean world,” which stretches from Africa in the west to Southeast Asia in the east. Like China’s Maritime Silk Road, Project Mausam would boost regional commercial and cultural linkages – but where the MSR would have all roads leading back to China, Project Mausam seeks to return India to its role as the center of Indian Ocean trade.
The dueling Indian Ocean plans are a direct sign of India’s mistrust of the MSR and of China’s Indian Ocean ambitions more generally. To try and assuage those concerns, Beijing is now pushing for a linkage between Project Mausam and the MSR. Chinese Ambassador to India, Le Yucheng, recently said in an interview with The Hindu that Beijing wants to link its MSR and Silk Road Economic Belt projects with New Delhi’s Project Mausam. “India is China’s natural and significant partner in promoting the ‘Belt and Road’ initiatives,” Le said, noting that India’s participation in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is a positive step in this direction. More generally, Le emphasized that “China is also willing to work with India to conduct trilateral cooperation and multilateral cooperation in the [Indian Ocean] region, to achieve win-win cooperation and common development.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat