Pakistan and Sri Lanka faced political turmoil fuelled by Chinese debt. Sri Lanka is at present under lockdown with the public having no options but to protest the state of governance of the Rajapaksa family. The two countries have shifted loyalties to Beijing in the past two decades. Now the countries like Nepal, Maldives and Bangladesh will think again on Chinese infrastructure loans and being part of the BRI initiative. There are many reasons for how Sri Lanka reached this state of a pauper. Tax cuts and the collapse of the tourism industry are the main reasons behind the current crisis. It has no money to print paper. This is a lesson for other countries close to China. China ran away leaving Sri Lanka as a pauper. This is dragon debt-trap diplomacy. Pakistan was one of the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with China. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have learnt their lessons. This is a wake-up call for other countries.
