‘Deals with Pakistan won’t hurt China’s Indian ties’

BEIJING: Chinese investments in Pakistan for the China-Pakistan economic corridor would not harm strengthening relations with India, Chinese experts said on Tuesday ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Beijing in May.

"There is enough potential for development of trade and economic relations between China and India. New Delhi does not need to worry about China-Pakistan agreements," Zhang Guihong, an expert on China-India relations at Shanghai's Fudan University, told TOI.

"Our goal is not to weaken India's ability in that area," Zhang said referring to concerns over the proposed corridor that would pass through disputed Gilgit-Baltistan, which India claims as its own.

China has maintained it merely wants to develop infrastructure in the area without undermining India's position on the Kashmir dispute.

An expert, who preferred anonymity, said China had no alternative but to invest in the disputed areas. "They happen to be areas that have a strong presence of terrorists. China's goal is to develop those areas as a means to counter the culture of terrorism,'' he said.

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