Mr. Putin, British Prime Minister Theresa May, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif are among the invitees expected. The more important questions are: how did India get boxed into this corner, and does it want a way out of it? Significantly, it is the Afghanistan leadership that has come out most strongly on the need for India to find its way into the B&R. “Economically, Afghanistan has become a part of Central Asia,” Mr. Ghani has said. Clearly, Afghanistan’s desire to reduce its dependence on Pakistan trade will eventually cut it off from all of South Asia.

Source: The Hindu March 22, 2017 18:37 UTC