印度成为亚投行最大借款国

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.

尽管印中关系持续紧张，印度已经成为了由中国牵头的亚洲基础设施投资银行（AIIB，简称：亚投行）最大的受益者，该行迄今为止承诺提供的资金中，四分之一给了印度。

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.

在成立的头两年里，亚投行批准了43亿美元的贷款，用于为亚洲各地的基础设施项目提供资金，其中超过10亿美元的资金将用于印度基础设施建设计划。中国设想的亚投行将成为世界银行(WB)之外的另一家多边开发银行。

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.

亚投行官员表示，亚投行愿意向印度发放贷款、同时新德里方面也愿意批准贷款计划，证明该银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.

曾担任英国内阁大臣、现任亚投行副行长的丹尼?亚历山大(Danny Alexander)称：“我经常需要回答的一个问题是，‘这是中国的银行吗？’不是——这是一家有84个成员国的多边银行。

“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.”

“印度是最大的借款国，我们在印度的投资比在其他任何国家的投资都多。我们在印度做事的步伐之快和涉及范围之广非常令人鼓舞。这表明，无论外交关系如何，亚洲任何一个国家都能够参与亚投行的工作并从中受益。”

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.

英国是七国集团(G7)中首个加入亚投行的成员国，但是此举遭到了美国的指责，华盛顿的官员警告称该行可能会成为中国的外交政策工具。包括法国和德国在内的美国其他盟友也陆续加入了亚投行，到最后G7集团中拒绝加入亚投行只剩美国和日本。印度是亚投行的早期支持者，尽管印中两国长期关系紧张。1962年两国爆发过战争，自此之后两国多次发生冲突。去年，双方士兵曾在喜马拉雅山脉多兰地区（Doklam，中国称洞朗——译者注）发生对峙。

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.

中国在“一带一路”倡议下为巴基斯坦、尼泊尔和斯里兰卡的基建项目提供资金，让印度担心中国在其周边地区的影响力日益扩大。印度拒绝了加入“一带一路”的邀请。

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，让新德里方面感到欣慰的是，亚投行的84个成员国代表了广泛的全球联盟。此外，他们还说，印度非常迫切地需要基建资金，乃至愿意忽视中国对亚投行某些决策拥有事实上的否决权。

“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.”

“印度需要融资，因此加入了亚投行，”布鲁金斯学会印度中心(Brookings India)研究员德鲁瓦?贾伊尚卡尔(Dhruva Jaishankar)说。“新德里方面看到了亚投行和‘一带一路’倡议之间的明显区别——前者是一个拥有董事会、成员和投票权的机构，后者是中国人的一个愿景，他们把各种不同的项目置于该愿景之下。”

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.”

中国有些人认为，印度加入亚投行是其接受“一带一路”倡议的前兆。上海国际问题研究院(SIIS)研究员王德华表示：“中国只需要有耐心。我相信印度最终会参与进来。”

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.

对亚投行而言，印度有潜力提供强劲回报：该国是目前世界上增速最快的主要经济体，其政策制定者过去常常与国际性开发银行打交道，能相对较快地作出批准。

“[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）一直是一个很好的合作伙伴，能迅速地给亚投行带来项目，”丹尼说。

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.

亚投行聚焦印度基础设施中的两个领域：电力和交通。但它并没有投资像大型太阳能发电场这样的计划，而是决定将重点放在一些有时被忽视的领域。例如，在泰米尔纳德邦(Tamil Nadu)，亚投行提供了1亿美元贷款建造输电线路。“我们对可再生能源和能效项目尤其感兴趣，”亚投行负责战略的副行长约阿希姆?冯阿姆斯贝格(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.”

“但我们也必须确保，我们投资的项目和公司本身是可持续的，我们投入的资金要在相关的领域确实发挥作用。”