World / Indian diplomat mike goes silent at UN conference while criticising China

India-China: At the United Nations meeting in Beijing, something happened on Wednesday that surprised everyone. As soon as the Indian diplomat suddenly went off his mic while strongly opposing China's 'Belt and Road Initiative' (BRI) and its ambitious project CPEC. Indian diplomats were speaking about New Delhi's objections to these controversial projects.

After the mic system was restored in the conference room, Zhenmin said, 'Dear participants, we're sorry. We were facing some technical issues and started the video of the next speaker. For this I am sorry and asked Sohni to resume his speech. He told Sohni, “You are lucky… you are welcome again.” The Indian diplomat then continued his speech without any interruption.

"We share the aspiration of the international community to increase physical connectivity and we believe this will bring wider economic benefits for all in an equitable and balanced manner," Sohni said. “Some mention of BRI has been made in this conference. Here I would like to say that as far as China's BRI is concerned, we have been disproportionately affected by it. Its inclusion in the so-called China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infringes on India's sovereignty.

The BRI aims to increase China's influence and connect Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe through a network of land and sea routes. "No country can support an initiative that ignores its core concerns on sovereignty and territorial integrity," Sohni said.

Before a few speakers from Sohni, a Pakistani diplomat heaped praises on the BRI and CPEC and called it crucial for the region. At the same time, after the speech of the Indian diplomat, Chinese Transport Minister Li Xiopeng, while responding to the criticism made by Sohni, said, 'I would like to apologize for the technical glitch when the Indian representative was speaking.'