A few days ago, the 23rd Council of Heads of Government (Prime Ministers) of the SCO member states was held in Pakistan, and India once again became that "outlier" in an atmosphere of active cooperation among all countries.
In the joint communiqué issued after the meeting, the consensus on cooperation reached by member states was listed, and only China's "Belt and Road" initiative was proposed, which detailed the countries that expressed support, but only the name of India was missing.
Obviously, India Prime Minister Modi, who was absent from the meeting, still let Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar convey the objection on his behalf, that is, India's refusal to support China's joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative.
In fact, among the SCO member states, India is currently the only one that has not joined the Belt and Road Initiative, and has always shown a passive and confrontational attitude, which is incompatible with other member states.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Logically speaking, India, which is eager to seek development, should not give up this opportunity to promote the economy and expand the scale of cooperation. Objectively speaking, the Modi government is not actually targeting the Belt and Road Initiative, but China, which is proposing this initiative.
As we all know, in addition to having a dream of being a great power, India also fantasizes about becoming the hegemon of South Asia and has the right to speak.
However, as China's international influence has rapidly increased, the gap with India has widened, which has made the Modi government eager to show India's "leadership" and enhance its own prestige.
For example, when convening the "Voices of the Global South" summit for developing countries, India did not invite China, the largest developing country, for the simple reason that once China attended, the eyes of the audience would naturally be attracted to China, and India would become a "foil".
The Modi government wants to compete with China for influence
Speaking of the "Belt and Road" initiative, China's joint construction plan has brought great development opportunities to the world, and the Modi government also knows that if the plan is successfully promoted in South Asia, China's ties with regional countries will be closer, and India's illusions may be shattered.
Of course, the Modi government is also quite jealous of the future of this initiative, so it has also proposed a "spice route" to try to replace China.
However, China can expand global infrastructure cooperation by relying on world-renowned technology, and India's own domestic modernization has not yet been understood, so naturally there is no follow-up.
In addition, the reason why India does not support China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative may have another purpose, that is, left and right. In recent years, in order to contain China's development, United States has constantly pulled its allies to obstruct cooperation between other countries and China, and wants to support India and make China a stumbling block in Asia.
India has always viewed China as an adversary
Under such circumstances, India attacking China is actually showing its own value to United States so as to reap the benefits from Washington, otherwise once China and India show a friendly posture, the United States may change its outlook on India, and even turn to suppressing India development in order to avoid the emergence of another China.
However, this move of wanting to occupy both ends can easily lead to India's increasing marginalization within the SCO.
This SCO report has already shown this trend, and India, which has not been named, is precisely the "exception" that has been named.
The SCO needs like-minded friends, not an arena for political confrontation, and if India continues to do so, it will be isolated or even leave.