Beware the Belt and Road: The Sri Lankan Experience and Nepal's Warning

 According to indiatimes.com, the Pokhara International Airport in Nepal, which was built with Chinese assistance, is facing questions over its commercial viability. This is due to the airport's limited ability to handle smaller aircraft with limited fuel and passenger capacity. In Sri Lanka, the Hambantota airport, which was also built by China, is facing similar questions and is seen as a potential white elephant, due to its strategic significance for China.

The Pokhara airport recently saw a Yeti Airlines flight crash on January 15th and is unable to accommodate medium-sized aircraft such as A320 and B737, because of fuel and passenger restrictions and the lack of night-landing facilities. This has led to concerns in Nepal over the viability of the airport, which was listed as a Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) project by China, but is opposed by some in the Nepalese administration.

The presence of China in the airport, which was constructed with a loan of $215.96 million from the Exim Bank of China, gives Beijing strategic depth against India. The airport is located near several locations in Uttar Pradesh and is less than an hour's flight from New Delhi, with a direct commercial flight available. This close proximity to India's capital city means that a Chinese aircraft stationed at the Pokhara airport could reach India's capital in a shorter amount of time.

Civil aviation experts in Nepal believe that the airport will not be able to attract much traffic and will result in significant losses. A significant portion of the loan from China's Exim Bank went towards the construction of the airport, which was awarded to China's CAMC Engineering Company. If Nepal fails to repay the loan, China could pressure Kathmandu into offering the airport on a long-term lease for exclusive use by China. It has also been reported that China is pushing for the construction of hotels, resorts and vacation homes exclusively for Chinese citizens in Pokhara.

For Sri Lanka, this news serves as a reminder of the potential risks associated with accepting large loans from China for infrastructure projects. The Hambantota airport, which was built with Chinese assistance, is also facing questions over its commercial viability and is seen as a potential white elephant, much like the Pokhara airport in Nepal.