CPEC may fuel Indo-Pak tension: UN report

Bangkok [Thailand] May 24 (ANI): A recent United Nations report has said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) might create geopolitical tensions with India and ignite political instability as the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir is a matter of concern. The report titled 'The Belt and Road Initiative and the Role of Escap' and released by the UN's Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) also feared that Afghanistan's political instability could limit the potential benefits of transit corridors to population centers near Kabul or Kandahar. The report was prepared at China's request and covers the six economic corridors spanning Asia, Europe and Africa under the umbrella of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The report also states that CPEC could serve as the "driver for trade and economic integration" between China, Pakistan, Iran, India, Afghanistan and the Central Asian states. CPEC holds the promise of closer trade, investment and energy cooperation between the two countries, as it creates alternative maritime trade routes for China and its trading partners, it said. Recently, India had also refused invitation to attend China's ambitious One Belt One Road Summit held this month as opposed to the inclusion of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) under the OBOR initiative as a part of the project passes through disputed Kashmir region. (ANI)