After the Pokhara Regional International Airport (PRIA), the third international airport of Nepal, comes into operation from Sunday, Indian media outlets have given special attention to the newly-built project. While some focused on China's loan assistance but remain restrained for now, others have been keen on playing up geopolitical tensions with accusations that are totally baseless, irresponsible and unacceptable.
The PRIA was contracted with loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. "What if Nepal fails to repay the loan and is forced to lease out the airport to the Chinese?" "What if the People's Liberation Army Air Force then starts using the airport as a support base?" Indian news platform Zee News said, citing a source in the Ministry of External Affairs. Pokhara is very close to India, particularly cities in northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, and "is also not all that far from the strategic Siliguri corridor," the Zee News report said.
Over the past decades, Nepal has accepted "loan assistance" not only from China but also India. However, despite this, Chinese loans have been specifically targeted by anti-China forces. Although there is a yawning infrastructure funding gap in countries like Nepal, China's lending has been described by some as the so-called debt trap diplomacy. The debt trap lies are a narrative that anti-China forces use to defame and smear China. Critics' anti-China narrative is politically motivated and should not derail mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Nepal.
Pokhara is a popular tourist destination in central Nepal. Nepal Tourism Board, the country's tourism promotional body, on Saturday said it aims to host at least 1 million visitors in 2023, largely by attracting visitors from Asia, according to the Kathmandu Post. It is normal to see Nepal's enthusiasm in building an international airport in Pokhara. This is a normal business cooperation that will be conducive to economic development in the Himalayan nation.
Nobody will dispute PRIA's contribution to the economic development of the district, the metropolitan city and the whole nation, because of the enhanced connectivity established by this airport, Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" said, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
Calling the airport a "bright name card" of China-Nepal joint project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Wang Xin, charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy in Nepal, said China stands ready to work with Nepal to expand and deepen friendly exchanges and jointly build the BRI with high quality. Since the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding on the BRI cooperation between the two countries in 2017, positive progress has been made in cooperation in various fields such as infrastructure, trade and investment, making important contributions to Nepal's economic and social development.
Nepal is sandwiched between China and India. However, we can't see any reason why Pokhara shouldn't accept Chinese loans just because the city "is very close to India." According to the Kathmandu Post, India has increased its annual grant assistance to Nepal for fiscal year 2021-22. However, Indian media outlets seem to think India's assistance and loan won't push Nepal into a "debt trap." They are playing the old double-standard tricks against China.
China's economic cooperation with Nepal does not target any third party, including India. In contrast, mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Nepal is likely to be a component of economic integration in the region and benefit all South Asian countries.
India is also a development partner of Nepal and their cooperation covers various sectors - road, rail, health, power, which not only aim to improve infrastructure and cross-border connectivity between the two countries but can also promote economic integration in the region. From an economic perspective, India's investment into Nepal should be welcomed.
Although some in India try to see China-Nepal economic relations through a geopolitical lens, but their narrow-minded geopolitical thinking will not hinder China-Nepal cooperation. If India is worried about the development of bilateral relations between China and Nepal, the best solution is to participate in regional cooperation. In fact, there is great room for trilateral cooperation among the three countries.
(The author is a reporter with the Global Times. She can be contacted at [email protected])
