Though China terms baseless
India’s worries that it is trying to establish foothold in India’s
neighbourhood by trapping countries in a debt trap, its steps say otherwise.
India’s neighbourhood countries
that China is eyeing are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Myanmar.
Having a strong Chinese presence in these countries would give China strategic
advantage over India. So, China, in the name of building economic corridors
linking Asia, Africa and Europe, offers these countries huge loans for
infrastructural projects at higher interest rates and when these economically
poor countries are not able to repay the loans, China acquires controlling
stakes in them, as high as 85 per cent.
China rubbishes all such claims
and says in its One Belt One Road or Belt & Road (OBOR or B&R) is a
venture aimed at mutual benefit for all in the region. But an editorial in
Global Times, one of the official publications of China, has clearly stated
that “it should be made clear that the B&R is not a charity program, and
most projects under the initiative are reciprocal, rather than aid.”
Though the editorial is written
in context of an Indian publication’s report that claims that China is trying
to convert its soft loans to Bangladesh to commercial credit, it gives a hint
of what the Chinese designs are going to be, especially in countries where
China is investing heavily in projects under its One OBOR or B&R
initiative.
Pakistan is the classic case here
where China is establishing China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with an
estimated investment of $50 billion that could go up to $75 billion. Though
Pakistan’s power elite sound bullish with CPEC as if it will miraculously transform
Pakistan, protesters and activists in Pakistan rue that the mammoth
infrastructural exercise, that passes through the disputed territory that India
considers its own, will convert Pakistan into a Chinese colony.
China is already acquiring
controlling stakes in projects in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. According to a Reuters
report, China has demanded 70-85 per cent stakes in the projects funded by
China in Myanmar including Kyauk Pyu, a strategic deep sea strategic on the Bay
of Bengal. In Sri Lanka, China funded projects Hambantota Port and Mattala
Airport, both strategically important, especially for India, have gone into
China’s control. With Bangladesh, China signed projects worth $25 billion
during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Bangladesh visit in October 2016. Earlier
this month, Nepal signed a $ 2.5 billion deal with China to build the country’s
largest hydroelectric dam. In May, Nepal and China signed a MoU on OBOR.
China, known for territorial
expansionism and autocratic rule, is also an economic powerhouse now. It is now
financially big enough to first pump its money in small, poor nations and then
acquire controlling stakes in organizations as the nations fail to repay, be it
the poor or financially weaker nations of Asia or Africa and the editorial
narrative that “China needs to take a more sophisticated approach in clarifying
its loan arrangements in overseas cooperation and should maintain its bottom
line by avoiding interest rate competition in loan offerings” fits in the
expansionist mindset of its one-party regime.
Soft loans come with symbolic
interest rates of around 1 per cent or even less or in some cases with no
interest rates and are given to the borrowers for development projects while
commercial credit is given at much higher interest rates. The editorial argues
that “there is no need for China to compete with other countries in offering
competitive interest rates just to please partners or win contracts, to the
detriment of its own interests” referring to India’s $7.5 billion line of
credit to Bangladesh at a nominal interest rate.
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri
Lanka, Myanmar, all these countries are in India’s neighbourhood. China is
either funding huge projects there or has signed deals worth multiple billions
of dollars. And as it intends to charge a much higher interest rate for its
loans, something that may result in countries defaulting on Chinese loans and
thus ceding the projects’ control to China, India has a valid reason to get
worried, especially after the historically hostile attitude that China has
harboured against India. China has always tried to encircle India by increasing
its presence in the South Asian countries.
©SantoshChaubey