Connectivity is vital in uniting a region, building infrastructure is as important as building trust, and hence, should be based on respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and must “empower” nations, not place them under an “impossible debt burden”, Paramita Tripathi, Joint Secretary for Oceania and the Indo-Pacific in the Ministry of External Affairs, said. “They must promote trade, not strategic competition,” she added.
Speaking of why the Indo-Pacific is such a focal point, the German envoy to India, Philipp Ackermann, said the “root of all of this is the aggressive Chinese foreign policy in the area”. “We see China under Xi Jinping with successive steps to enhance power in the region by military, economic and other means,” he said. China has border conflicts with all its neighbours in the Indo-Pacific and perhaps beyond, Dr. Ackermann said, adding, “We also see intensified competition between the U.S. and China.”
There is widespread concern over Chinese infrastructure projects in many countries, and their accumulating debt burden.
