The geostrategic ramifications of the taxing changes are starting to manifest themselves in Nepal-China ties. For instance, the Kathmandu government of Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (also known as Prachanda) had firmly chosen to steer clear of China’s Global Security Initiative (GSI). Prachanda consented to release a long joint statement on his visit to Beijing, but it noticeably omitted any reference of the GSI. However, Xi Jinping’s strategy for a new global order that goes beyond the BRI is centred on the GSI.Together with the Global Development Initiative (GDI) and Global Civilization Initiative (GCI), the three initiatives underpin Xi’s vision for a new China-dominated world order. Most significantly, they highlight an intense foreign policy shift towards the Global South.
Nepal’s refrain from endorsing the GSI should serve as a wake-up call to the entire region. The country seemingly is on its way to getting seeped inside China’s debt trap through the Pokhara airport project. In turn, this will pave the way for Beijing to begin extracting strategic gains through the deep leverages it has cultivated inside Kathmandu. Furthermore, The New York Times report revealed how China’s CAMC Engineering repeatedly dictated business terms to maximize profits and protect its interests. It also dismantled Nepali oversight of its work. Consequently, Nepal found itself entangled in significant debt to Chinese creditors without the expected influx of passengers to repay the loans. Far worse, CAMC’s construction work does not meet international standards. Key components, such as soil density tests for the runway’s foundation, were omitted, jeopardizing the runway’s future stability.
These only underscore Beijing’s piercing predatory practices, which are in gross violation of regional norms. They lack financial sustainability, transparency, and equitable ways of investment that are mutually beneficial to the donor and recipient country.The Pokhara airport has become Nepal’s Achilles’ heel given its poor quality of work and mounting burden of debt on Kathmandu. Not surprisingly, the airport that opened in January 2023 serves as a stark example of the pitfalls that come with choosing China’s infrastructure development model.The New York Times published a detailed investigative report in October 2023. It summarized how “China got a big contract […] Nepal got debt and a pricey airport.” The newly constructed international terminal at Pokhara’s airport is a project largely financed and executed by Chinese companies. Concerningly, it has many complex and unsettling realities to it.
The Pokhara airport exemplifies the perils that come with importing China’s infrastructure-at-any-cost development model. It disproportionately benefits Chinese firms at the expense of the borrowing nation. China CAMC Engineering, the construction division of state-owned conglomerate Sinomach, played a pivotal role in the Pokhara airport project.
Source: Here
