It said the huge sum of over $50 billion for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor could spell doom for an already faltering Pakistani economy. "For the Hambantota port project, Sri Lanka borrowed $301 million from China with an interest rate of 6.3%, while the interest rates on soft loans from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are only 0.25–3%. GDP growth in countries and regions along the Belt and Road route stood at an average of 4.6 percent last year, fueled by new infrastructure projects, according to statistics from PricewaterhouseCoopers earlier this year. "The article claims the increasing Chinese footprint in Asia is for economic development while taking a sly dig at India's security concerns: "All of this essentially points to India's tight nerves about its giant neighbor. In fairness, it makes sense for India to stay awake and alert - according to the ancient Chinese proverb, "life springs from sorrow and calamity, and death comes from ease and pleasure."

Source: Economic Times May 04, 2017 06:13 UTC