US President Joe Biden and other G7 leaders unveiled ambitious plans to mobilise $600 billion in funding by 2027 to deliver transparent and game-changing infrastructure projects in developing countries like India, in a move seen as a counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) plan, which was unveiled on Sunday here during the G7 Summit, re-launches a scheme unveiled at last year’s G7 talks in England. Biden said the plan would deliver returns for everyone.

“Today, the nations of the G7 launched the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment,” Biden said. “Collectively, we aim to mobilise nearly $600 billion from the G7 by 2027 to invest in critical infrastructure that improves lives and delivers real gains for all of our people,” he tweeted.

“I want to be clear — the G7’s announcement of a new global infrastructure partnership isn’t aid or charity. It’s an investment that will deliver returns for everyone — including the American people — and boost all our economies,” Biden tweeted. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s multi-trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has been criticised for hitting many nations with too much debt. The PGII has been hailed as a way to counter the ambitious BRI.

Launched by Xi in 2013, the BRI provides financing for emerging countries to build infrastructures like ports, roads and bridges. While it has developed trade links, it has also been criticised as a means of providing “predatory loans”, forcing debt-saddled countries like Sri Lanka to cede key assets if they fail to meet their debt repayments. The White House, in a fact sheet, said the US will mobilise billions of dollars and deliver quality, sustainable infrastructure that makes a difference in people’s lives around the world, strengthens and diversifies the supply chains, creates new opportunities for US workers, and advances our national security