Countries in BRI Falling into Chinese Debt Trap, Italy’s PM to Propose BRI Cancellation

Joining China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project four years ago was a “hasty and disastrous” decision. This statement is from the Minister of Defense of Italy.

An interview with Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto was published on Sunday, in which he said China’s involvement in the project was a “disastrous decision.”

He also explained the reason for this and said that this decision did not increase the country’s exports.

Guido Crosetto told the Corriere della Sera newspaper, “The decision to join the New Silk Road was a hasty and disastrous step.” Although China’s exports to Italy increased several times, it did not have much effect on Italy’s exports to China.

However, recently China said that both countries are getting “beneficial results” from this project.

The Italian defense minister said that today’s important issue is how to withdraw from this plan without affecting the relationship with China.

He said, “It is true that China is our competitor, but also a partner.”

He said that recently China is adopting a more aggressive attitude internationally.

In such a situation, Italy should consider withdrawing from this agreement without any adverse consequences, he is of the opinion.

After a meeting with US President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her government has until December to make a decision on the BRI issue.

Apart from this, she also announced that she will visit China soon.

In an interview with the TG5 Italian news program on Saturday, Meloni said that while Italy being part of the BRI is a contradiction in terms, Italy is not the G7 country that has the strongest trade ties with China.

The previous government of Italy signed an agreement with China for the BRI project in March 2019. It was the only developed western country to do so.

In 2018, Italy decided to join after the visit of Italian Finance Minister Giovanni Tria to China. However, Italy’s decision was criticized by the US, the European Union, and other Western allies.

In 2018, Italy decided to join after the visit of Italian Finance Minister Giovanni Tria to China. However, Italy’s decision was criticized by the US, the European Union, and other Western allies.

In May of the same year, the new Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, indicated that Italy wanted to withdraw from this agreement. She said that it is not impossible to maintain good relations with China even after exiting the BRI project.

According to the news agency Reuters, the agreement will expire in March 2024 if one of the two parties informs the other at least three months in advance that they want to terminate the agreement; otherwise, it will be automatically renewed.

She had already said in his election campaign that Italy is the only such G7 country which is a part of the BRI. He said that he did not want to let China expand the project in Italy or Europe.

The concept of the BRI project is based on the idea of reconstructing the Silk Route (Silk Road) of the historical period. Through this, there is a plan to connect China in Asia with Europe and other countries.

From 130 BC to 1453 BC, for about 1,500 years, traders used these routes for the countries of East Asia and Europe.

The Silk Route was not a single road or road; it was a network of paths through which not only trade but also cultural exchanges took place.

About 6,437 km long, this route extended to many remote routes in the world like the Gobi desert and the Pamir mountains.

In 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Belt and Road Initiative envisioning the reconstruction of this historic trade route. China’s global investment project has spread to Africa, Latin America, and Oceania within a decade.

As part of this, China invests in large infrastructure projects around the world that make it possible to transport goods.

China’s critics say the ambitious plan is being used as a weapon in China’s efforts to increase its geopolitical and economic influence.

According to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 130 countries have participated in China’s Belt and Road Initiative so far.

It includes 38 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, 34 in Europe and Central Asia, 25 in East Asia and the Pacific, 17 in the Middle East and North Africa, 18 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and 6 in Southeast Asia.

Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan have also signed agreements on this. However, this has not yet been implemented in Nepal.

Professor Prabhakar Sahu of the Institute of Economic Growth in India says, ‘China has connected more than 100 countries through the BRI project. There are 2,600 BRI projects underway worldwide. China has already invested more than 770 billion dollars in countries that have signed agreements with China on this project. Billions of dollars will be invested in related projects in the coming days.

Sri Lanka faced its worst economic crisis a year later after the Sri Lankan Parliament passed the Port City Economic Commission Bill, with the implementation of which port city areas built with financial assistance from China will be exempted from some national laws and special provisions made for this will apply.

The government, led by Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapakse and his brother Mahinda Rajapakse, hoped the new law would attract much-needed foreign investment.

But a year later, the country was facing its worst economic crisis. The crisis became so severe that people took to the streets and the president had to leave the country.

International affairs experts had said that Sri Lanka was badly caught in the trap of Chinese debt.

Experts say that while providing financial assistance to all countries under the BRI, China imposes arbitrary conditions and traps them in debt.

Australia canceled two contracts related to the project in 2021 before Italy expressed its desire to withdraw from the Belt and Road project.

These two agreements were signed by the Australian province of Victoria with China in 2018 and 2019.

Australia’s federal government was given veto powers in December to overturn decisions made by a province or university.

During the cancellation of the agreement, Australian Foreign Minister Penn clarified about this decision again, saying that the decision was to ensure stability in foreign relations and that it was not a target of any country.

In response, the Chinese embassy responded that Australia’s new move would further damage bilateral relations and only harm itself.

In 2018, China built a nearly two-kilometer long and four-lane wide bridge in the Maldives with an investment of $200 million. It was seen as a symbol of China-Maldives friendship and a successful project.

However, the small tourism-dependent country of the Maldives soon began to worry about China’s debt to the government.

He was worried that the situation of Maldives would be similar to that of Sri Lanka if China could not pay its debt.

-With the help of BBC Hindi