Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has fled the country after protests erupted over the country’s severe economic crisis. He left the country using an army plane.
Rajapaksa has left the country and reached Male, the capital of Maldives. The Sri Lankan Air Force has confirmed that a military plane has been provided to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his wife and two security personnel to fly to the Maldives. According to the army, the government had requested for this.
Rajapaksa has said that he will not stay in Maldives but will go to some other country. But it is not clear where their original destination is.
There is a lot of upheaval in Sri Lanka at this time. There are indications that the economic crisis there may be in some other countries of South Asia. These countries do not have the necessary political or leadership capacity to handle such crises.
The crisis of political leadership in those countries as well as the economic crisis is strange. We have never seen Sri Lanka as a failed nation. The economic condition there was good and the parameters of economic development were also good.
Sri Lanka was considered an emerging economy only about three years ago. But the manner in which the situation deteriorated, it can be gauged from the weakness of the political leadership. The leadership failed to stop the country’s economic situation from deteriorating.
Such a crisis can also come on Pakistan and Nepal
There are indications that some countries in South Asia may face a similar economic crisis. Be it the situation in Pakistan or the economic crisis of Nepal, it is the same everywhere. Such a crisis is never limited to one place.
Is Nepal ready to deal with the economic crisis?
The outrage seen in Sri Lanka today is likely to be visible in Nepal tomorrow. This is a matter of concern for South Asia.
Will Nepal be able to control such a crisis?
Whether they succeed or not and the political structure capable of resolving such a crisis must be considered.
If such an economic crisis is seen in Nepal as well, there is a doubt that it will be resolved within the political framework.
If a country like Sri Lanka goes into economic crisis, the political leadership does not have the ability to control it. Because there is deep political division in Nepal.
Now there are both political and economic problems. The people of South Asia are suffering because of this.
Like Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Nepal also have China’s interests. The question is how to see the role he played in Sri Lanka.
China’s role
China’s role in Lanka has been extremely irresponsible. China gave huge loans to Sri Lanka and invested there. There he had a great influence.
It is not possible to say that China was solely responsible for the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, but it can be said that China is also a major reason for such a situation.
China was at the forefront of investment. China gave a lot of money to the family of Rajapaksa.
China worked there keeping in mind the personal interests of the President and the Prime Minister. China paid close attention to the royal family but did not see the Sri Lankans.
People found that the wealth of the royal family kept on increasing but their economic condition deteriorated.
When Sri Lanka needed help, China was nowhere to be seen. The economic condition of Sri Lanka has been deteriorating for the last six months.
According to the people there, they could not escape the damage caused to Sri Lanka’s economy by the Kovid-19 epidemic.
But nowhere in this period has China taken any initiative to help Sri Lanka. When China saw the problem in Sri Lanka, China withdrew its hand, other countries should take a lesson from it.
China is at the forefront of economic benefits. But when it comes to helping or solving problems, China lags behind.