China’s all-weather friends in SL and Pak are in deep economic crisis

The two countries are caught in the Chinese debt trap with Beijing demanding further concessions for rescheduling the debt like demanding that Colombo give permission for Oceanography in South Sri Lanka.

While Pakistan Supreme Court has stabilized the political crisis in the Islamic Republic by restoring the National Assembly, the situation in Sri Lanka continues to be precarious with power, fuel, medicine scarcities sustaining the anger of the public and Islandwide protests including one on Thursday night outside the house of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. The Opposition JVP has given a three-day protest call in Colombo starting today.

Both neighbours of India are facing a serious economic crisis, with the dollar-local currency exchange rate plummeting by the day, foreign reserves heading for rock bottom and external debt mounting due to poor governance by Imran Khan Niazi in Pakistan and the Rajapaksas in Sri Lanka. The two countries are caught in the Chinese debt trap with Beijing demanding further concessions for rescheduling the debt like demanding that Colombo give permission for Oceanography in South Sri Lanka.

Despite Imran Niazi blaming the “foreign hand” for conspiring with the Opposition to throw his government out of power, the Supreme Court of Pakistan overturned the deputy speaker ruling of rejecting the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition on ground of what appears to be a non-existent conspiracy. It is widely expected that Opposition no confidence against Niazi will carry through tomorrow in the National Assembly, leading to the formation of an interim government under whom the general election will be held.

While Imran Niazi is going to yet again address the nation to rave and rant on the US conspiracy against him in cahoots with the Opposition and the establishment, the outgoing PM has created a huge diplomatic mess for his successor by making unsubstantiated allegations against Washington, its principal aid donor for the past three decades. With the Pakistani Rupee close to a double century against a single dollar, it will be very difficult for Islamabad to secure funding from western financial institutions without showing good governance on the ground.

The situation in Sri Lanka is not so clear cut with the Opposition parties not having the political heft to displace the Rajapaksas Inc. soon. India, on its part, has decided to support the Sri Lankan public and will soon urge its private sector to invest in the Island nation to revive its economy with the Sri Lankan rupee scoring more than a triple century against a single American dollar.

Although the leadership of both the countries pitched their entire lot with Beijing much to the chagrin of the US and India, the economic recovery will be slow with accompanied political flux.

Published on Apr 08, 2022 10:35 AM IST

By Shishir Gupta