China today said 74 countries and international organisations have signed up to join its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) indicating "positive response and wide support" from the global community.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) is the latest signatory to join the multibillion dollar BRI, the pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping, a senior official said.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and UN Secretary General Antnio Guterres had attended the signing ceremony of the agreement on BRI at New York on September 22, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told media here.
So far 74 counters and international organisations have signed the cooperation document on BRI with China, he said.
"This indicated that the BRI has won more positive response and wide support from the international community," he said.
The BRI aimed at building a vast network of infrastructure projects expanding China's expertise and capital to different parts of the world also includes USD 50 billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) over which India has protested as it traversed through Pakistan- occupied-Kashmir (PoK).
India boycotted the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) organised by China in May this year to highlight its concerns over Beijing pushing projects through the the PoK.
There were also concerns of debt burden brought in by the BRI projects after Sri Lanka opted for long-term lease of its Hambantota port for USD 1.12 billion debt swap.
Earlier, China managed to include the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road (the components of BRI) as development projects in a resolution related to Afghanistan passed by UN Security Council in March this year.
The report released by the UNs Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap) may create "geo- political tensions" with India and "ignite" further political instability besides fuelling separatist movement in Pakistans Balochistan province.
"The BRI will serve the interests of China and the countries along its corridors more effectively if it is shaped as a collective endeavour and is well integrated into existing regional cooperation initiatives," it had said.
Lu said in the press briefing that the BRI is important platform for China to conduct cooperation with relevant countries.
"It is an open and inclusive development platform. The reason why it increased support and participation from more countries and international organisations is that during the process of building the BRI, we adhered to the idea of wide consultation, joint contributions and shared benefits," he said.
China is committed to promoting a "fair, equitable and transparent international trading" and investment rule system" with countries along the BRI, he said.
"We believe this initiative will inject new impetuous to the global and regional economies and help various countries to achieve common development and prosperity," he said.
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