China will have “to get involved” if any Indian “plot” disrupts the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in restive Balochistan, an influential Chinese thinktank has warned India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reference to Balochistan in his Independence Day speech is the “latest concern” for China and among its scholars, Hu Shisheng, the director of the Institute of South and Southeast Asian and Oceanian Studies at China Institute of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), said in an interview.
The thinktank is among China’s most powerful,and is affiliated with the country’s ministry of state security The researcher also said India’s growing military ties with the US and its changed attitude on the disputed South China Sea are ringing alarm bells for China.
Hu said China feared India may “use anti-government elements” in Balochistan, where Beijing is building CPEC -a key to the success of its ambitious `One Road, One Belt’ project.
“If this kind of plot causes damage to CPEC, China will have to get involved,” he said, referring to the alleged involvement of India in backing separatists in Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir.