Is now the time for Nepal’s debt trap by China diplomacy?
You saw the situation
in Sri Lanka at starting of 2020 after the worldwide covid lockdown. In Asia, Sri
Lanka was struggling for food, foreign reserved got down, and IMF and other
International Banks declared banks corrupt. In all this had been a critical
situation for Sri Lanka, China Diplomacy took Hambantota for 99 years lease on
the amount of not paid hidden loans with heavy interest from China. Sri Lanka
has not yet recovered from all this. Here, you also see Pakistan has not been
able to import essential goods, the food rate has gone high and high, and it
has been difficult to afford for the common people of Pakistan. People of
Pakistan come to the road to protest against the government. The interesting thing
is Pakistan had taken many loans from the USA, UAE, China, and other richest
countries. As we know, Pakistan is a puppet
of China. Pakistan is part of China’s BRI “Belt and Road Initiative” projects,
and Pakistan’s financial, technical, or weaponry depends on China as well as the
USA. Nowadays Pakistan suffers from a very difficult situation, and it will be
worse in the coming days for Pakistan. As per the media source, Pakistan has
also taken heavy loans with much harder 7-8 percent interest from China, and
experts assume that Pakistan will lose some important properties on the behalf
of not paid loans. China knows many developing small countries need loans for
standing their own country on competition worldwide and also these countries
want to show the development inside the country to their people, it helps next
election to show development in government periods. With all this knowledge and
the needs of countries, China gives him quick loans with heavy interest as
compared to the World bank does not give frequent loans and take very cheap
interest to small and poor countries.
The same things, ways
of destroying Asia's poor and small countries and giving heavier undeclare
loans for trapping those countries in debt. Nepal has now on the same track as
the debt trap by Chinese diplomacy. Many important projects like airports, road
connectivity, tunnels, and businesses start-up have been funded and built by
directly Chinese companies in Nepal. The influence of Chinese dominance has
been increasing rapidly on the Nepal government and markets. As Sri Lanka’s
market and the government were run through Chinese diplomacy, we saw the
consequences of that policy in Sri Lanka.
I think Nepal has time
to control all these consequences. The people of Nepal should be very aware of
this because as long as the government is alert, it will be late.
Kunal
Bhushan
International
Relations-MA
Source---
Game of Loans: How China Bought Hambantota
csis.org/analysis/game-
Is Nepal falling into China's debt trap?