China Excludes BCIM Economic Corridor its BRI Umbrella

India's decision to skip the Belt and Road Forum (BRF) may have led to the exclusion of the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor from the list of projects covered by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) umbrella.

Details:

• In an annex tagged with the Joint Communique of the Leaders' Roundtable of the BRF, the Chinese Foreign Ministry website has not listed the BCIM as a project covered by the BRI.
• BRI is the giant connectivity initiative speared by China to revive the ancient Silk Road across Eurasia and Africa.
• The BRF was concluded in Beijing, China.

Three major undertakings covering South Asia:

• The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC)
• The Nepal-China Trans-Himalayan Multi-dimensional Connectivity Network, including Nepal-China cross-border railway
• The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)

India's non-participation in BRF:

• India, for the second time, did not participate in the Belt and Road Forum (BRF), as the CPEC passes through Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), citing sovereignty concerns.
• The 2,800-km BCIM corridor proposes to link Kunming in China's Yunnan province with Kolkata, passing through nodes such as Mandalay in Myanmar and Dhaka in Bangladesh before heading to Kolkata.

Question:

Q. China excludes which project from the list of projects covered by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) umbrella?
a. Bhutan-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor
b. Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) economic corridor
c. Nepal-China-India-Myanmar (NCIM) economic corridor
d. Thailand-China-India-Myanmar (TCIM) economic corridor