New Delhi: As China held its second round of Belt and Road Initiate forum, one of the most noticeable absence from the global summit was that of India.
India has long maintained its reservations about the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) as it passes through the territory of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and hence has refrained from being a part of BRI. This has been cited as the prime reason for India abstaining from the 2nd round of BRF after it also excused itself from the first round of talks in 2017.
The questions which are rising in several quarters now is if the decision would have considerable ramifications on India's economic progress. ETV Bharat spoke to economist Akash Jindal who believed that BRI in itself is not a great idea for the member countries, and that India is better off by remaining aloof to China's much hyped plan.
"China is following a very shrewd policy of lending money at a very high rate of interest. You can see that with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor itself. The rate of interest at which they are lending for infrastructure projects is as high as 7-8 per cent. So financially, it would not be a good move to be part of this plan," Jindal said.
Calling the whole plan a 'comprehensive debt trap', Jindal further added, "It is a clear debt trap. It is obvious that with such high rates of interest, the countries would not be able to repay the loans. That would eventually lead to China interfering in their country and subsequently affecting their market and government policies".
"Infrastructure funding should always be viable and if you study China's economy, their financial history vindicates that high interest rate for infrastructure has always had averse effect. For any country, Infrastructure in itself doesn't generate profit. The countries who are on board with BRI should understand that the infrastructure would be beneficial only when they generate profit out of it," he added.
The much talked-about project of China got a major push when it got Italy on board after facing skepticism from European countries like Germany and France. Jindal though, believed that India is better off not being a part of BRI. "We already have numerous infrastructure building projects in the country at very viable interest rates and we need not be a part of BRI," he said.
