Journals Wave

 After Sri Lanka went bankrupt due to economic profligacy on count of white elephant Chinese funded projects, Bangladesh has joined Nepal by saying a big NO to any further loans from China. The two countries are now only interested in grants. Nine years after it was launched by President Xi Jinping, the Belt Road Initiative (BRI) appears to have lost steam with virtually no new Chinese investment in third countries post-Covid pandemic. While a section of Beijing watchers believe that this is an indicator of the hit that the Chinese economy has taken during the pandemic and as a result of its zero-Covid policy, the BRI appears to be under revaluation with recipient countries wary of the debt trap and its economic feasibility. Bangladesh Finance Minster AHM Mustafa Kamal has publicly blamed economically unviable Chinese BRI projects for exacerbating economic crisis in Sri Lanka. He has warned that developing countries must think twice about taking more loans through BRI as global inf...

With the Rajapaksa clan still clinging to power, the task of restoring peace and economic recovery in Sri Lanka becomes very difficult and is a matter of concern in New Delhi. The political flux in Sri Lanka continues with former finance minister Basil Rajapaksa, the youngest brother of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, blocked from boarding an Emirates flight to Dubai on Monday evening as protestors surrounded the Colombo international airport. According to diplomatic sources in Colombo, Basil, who holds dual citizenship of the US and Sri Lanka, was en route to Dubai but was not cleared by the immigration under pressure from the protestors who surrounded the airport. The protestors have currently put-up check posts to ensure that none of the political leaders especially the Rajapaksa clan are allowed to flee the country. Basil’s elder brothers Mahinda and Gotabaya are both under security protection in Colombo with the latter to resign from the post of President tomorrow. At an all-party m...