Italy to walk out of China’s Belt and Road Initiative? The economic, strategic reasons it has to do so - The Indian Express

After Italian media reported on Sunday that Italy was planning to leave China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the country’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni said later in the day that “there was more to Italy’s relationship with China than the BRI”, according to Reuters.
Meloni clarified that a final decision on whether to leave the BRI was still to be taken.
Italy is the only G7 country (the grouping of advanced economies of US, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, with the European Union as a “non-enumerated” member) to sign up for the BRI, which it did in 2019.
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China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative is a massive trade and infrastructure network that seeks to connect the country with the West in a model based on the ancient Silk Route. Under the initiative, pushed by the Xi Jinping regime, China has built or financed bridges, roads, ports, and even laid down digital connectivity networks in partner countries.
What happened during the G20 summit?
Meloni met Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Saturday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi. On Sunday, reports emerged that Italy was planning to walk out of the BRI, but, in a bid to stem backlash from Beijing, would seek to revitalise another strategic partnership agreement with China it had signed in 2004.
On Sunday, in a press conference at the end of the G20 summit, Meloni said, “There are European nations which...

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