Interestingly, India is the only South Asian country that has not joined China's ambitious One Belt One Road framework agreement so far.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister of all four provinces are in China for One road, One belt forum.
The Belt and Road (B&R) Forum for International Cooperation, likely to be attended by 28 world leaders, begins on Sunday and Beijing aims to project the summit as a global acceptance of its initiative. "Although Indian leader is not here, India will have a representative", Wang had said. While government officials have chosen not to speak on the matter, an informed source apprised PTI on India's decision to not attend the summit.
Playing down India's absence at the meeting, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told the media yesterday that the Indian scholars would be attending the meeting. Many countries who are now engaged in territorial disputes with China over the South China Sea issue, including Vietnam and Indonesia, are also sending official delegations.
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On financing, Ning said China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China have extended Dollars 110 billion in loans for Belt and Road projects by the end of 2016 and China has signed currency swap deals with countries along the Belt and Road routes totalling 900 billion yuan.
Earlier, PM Nawaz held a meeting with his Chinese counterpart during which he reaffirmed Pakistan's commitment towards the completion of early harvest projects under the $57 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
China's Premier Li Keqiang (R) and Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif shake hands during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 13, 2017. Reports have claimed that the country may be represented by junior embassy level officials.
Bhutan has no diplomatic relations with China. Additionally, India is yet to finalise its attendance at the forum and is reserved about the initiative, citing sovereignty issues over China's involvement in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
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