印度成為亞投行比較大借款國

India has emerged as the biggest beneficiary of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank , soaking up a quarter of its investment commitments to date, despite continuing tension between New Delhi and Beijing.

盡管印中關(guān)系持續(xù)緊張，印度已經(jīng)成為了由中國牽頭的亞洲基礎設施投資銀行(AIIB，簡稱：亞投行)最大的受益者，該行迄今為止承諾提供的資金中，四分之一給了印度。

In its first two years, the AIIB — conceived by China as an alternative to the World Bank — approved $4.3bn worth of funding for infrastructure projects around Asia, more than $1bn worth of which is due to go to schemes in India.

在成立的頭兩年里，亞投行批準了43億美元的貸款，用于為亞洲各地的基礎設施項目提供資金，其中超過10億美元的資金將用于印度基礎設施建設計劃。中國設想的亞投行將成為世界銀行(WB)之外的另一家多邊開發(fā)銀行。

Bank officials say the willingness to lend to India and the willingness of New Delhi to approve the funds is proof the AIIB is not a puppet of Beijing.

亞投行官員表示，亞投行愿意向印度發(fā)放貸款、同時新德里方面也愿意批準貸款計劃，證明該銀行并非北京方面的傀儡。

Danny Alexander, vice-president at the bank and a former UK cabinet minister, said: “One of the questions I have to deal with a lot is, ‘Is this a Chinese bank?’ And it’s not — it’s a multilateral bank that has 84 member countries.

曾擔任英國內(nèi)閣大臣、現(xiàn)任亞投行副行長的丹尼•亞歷山大(Danny Alexander)稱：“我經(jīng)常需要回答的一個問題是，‘這是中國的銀行嗎?’不是——這是一家有84個成員國的多邊銀行。

“India is the largest borrower, we’ve invested more in India than anywhere else. We’re doing things in India with a pace and breadth which is very encouraging. And it shows that any country in Asia, no matter what their diplomatic relations are, is able to engage with and benefit from the work of the AIIB.”

“印度是最大的借款國，我們在印度的投資比在其他任何國家的投資都多。我們在印度做事的步伐之快和涉及范圍之廣非常令人鼓舞。這表明，無論外交關(guān)系如何，亞洲任何一個國家都能夠參與亞投行的工作并從中受益。”

The UK was the first G7 country to become a member nation, but was rebuked by the US, with officials in Washington warning that the bank could become an instrument of Chinese foreign policy. Other US allies, including France and Germany, signed up, leaving the US and Japan the only G7 countries to refuse to do so. India was an early backer, despite longstanding tension with its neighbour. The two countries fought a war in 1962 and have skirmished several times since. Last year, soldiers from each side had a face-off at Doklam in the Himalayas.

英國是七國集團(G7)中首個加入亞投行的成員國，但是此舉遭到了美國的指責，華盛頓的官員警告稱該行可能會成為中國的外交政策工具。包括法國和德國在內(nèi)的美國其他盟友也陸續(xù)加入了亞投行，到最后G7集團中拒絕加入亞投行只剩美國和日本。印度是亞投行的早期支持者，盡管印中兩國長期關(guān)系緊張。1962年兩國爆發(fā)過戰(zhàn)爭，自此之后兩國多次發(fā)生沖突。去年，雙方士兵曾在喜馬拉雅山脈多蘭地區(qū)(Doklam，中國稱洞朗——譯者注)發(fā)生對峙。

India has been concerned about China’s growing influence in what New Delhi considers its neighbourhood, with Beijing funding schemes in Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka under its Belt and Road Initiative. India refused an invitation to become part of that scheme.

中國在“一帶一路”倡議下為巴基斯坦、尼泊爾和斯里蘭卡的基建項目提供資金，讓印度擔心中國在其周邊地區(qū)的影響力日益擴大。印度拒絕了加入“一帶一路”的邀請。

Analysts say New Delhi has taken comfort that the bank’s 84 members represent a range of global alliances. Besides, they add, it is so desperate for infrastructure funding that it is willing to overlook China’s de facto veto on certain AIIB decisions.

分析人士表示，讓新德里方面感到欣慰的是，亞投行的84個成員國代表了廣泛的全球聯(lián)盟。此外，他們還說，印度非常迫切地需要基建資金，乃至愿意忽視中國對亞投行某些決策擁有事實上的否決權(quán)。

“India needs financing, and so got on board with the AIIB,” said Dhruva Jaishankar, a fellow at Brookings India. “New Delhi sees a clear distinction between the AIIB, which is an institution with a board, membership and voting rights, and the Belt and Road Initiative, which is a vision only of the Chinese under which they have placed all kinds of different projects.”

“印度需要融資，因此加入了亞投行，”布魯金斯學會印度中心(Brookings India)研究員德魯瓦•賈伊尚卡爾(Dhruva Jaishankar)說。“新德里方面看到了亞投行和‘一帶一路’倡議之間的明顯區(qū)別——前者是一個擁有董事會、成員和投票權(quán)的機構(gòu)，后者是中國人的一個愿景，他們把各種不同的項目置于該愿景之下。”

Some in China believe India’s participation is a precursor to its acceptance of the BRI. Wang Dehua, a professor at Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said: “China simply needs to be patient. I am sure India eventually will participate.”

中國有些人認為，印度加入亞投行是其接受“一帶一路”倡議的前兆。上海國際問題研究院(SIIS)研究員王德華表示：“中國只需要有耐心。我相信印度最終會參與進來。”

For the AIIB, India offers potentially strong returns: the country is the fastest-growing major economy, and policymakers used to dealing with international development banks and can give approvals relatively quickly.

對亞投行而言，印度有潛力提供強勁回報：該國是目前世界上增速最快的主要經(jīng)濟體，其政策制定者過去常常與國際性開發(fā)銀行打交道，能相對較快地作出批準。

“[India] has been a very good partner to work with, and very quick off the mark with bringing projects to the bank,” said Sir Danny.

“(印度)一直是一個很好的合作伙伴，能迅速地給亞投行帶來項目，”丹尼說。

The AIIB is focusing on two areas of Indian infrastructure: power and transport. But rather than invest in schemes such as large solar farms, it has decided to focus on sometimes neglected pieces of the country’s systems. In Tamil Nadu, for example, it is lending $100m to build electricity transmission lines. “We are particularly interested in renewables and energy efficiency projects,” Joachim von Amsberg, AIIB’s vice-president for strategy, said in New Delhi recently.

亞投行聚焦印度基礎設施中的兩個領(lǐng)域：電力和交通。但它并沒有投資像大型太陽能發(fā)電場這樣的計劃，而是決定將重點放在一些有時被忽視的領(lǐng)域。例如，在泰米爾納德邦(Tamil Nadu)，亞投行提供了1億美元貸款建造輸電線路。“我們對可再生能源和能效項目尤其感興趣，”亞投行負責戰(zhàn)略的副行長約阿希姆•馮阿姆斯貝格(Joachim von Amsberg)不久前在新德里表示。

“But we also have to make sure the projects and companies we are investing in are themselves sustainable, and that we are spending money only where we can make a difference.”

“但我們也必須確保，我們投資的項目和公司本身是可持續(xù)的，我們投入的資金要在相關(guān)的領(lǐng)域確實發(fā)揮作用。”

Reporting by Kiran Stacey in New Delhi, Simon Mundy in Mumbai and Emily Feng in Beijing

基蘭•斯泰西(Kiran Stacey)新德里、西蒙•芒迪(Simon Mundy)孟買和Emily Feng北京報道