Over the years, China extended loans to various countries as a means to expand its influence. In 2019, China's outstanding debt claims stood at well over $5 trillion.

However, now it seems to have been caught in its own debt-trap. 

To improve its global image, hit by the coronavirus outbreak, China has paused debt repayment for 77 countries and 40 of them are in Africa alone. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping's dream project of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is corroded by a pile of debt.

Furthermore, Pakistan is also negotiating terms for repayment of the loan it has taken from China. According to a report, Islamabad wants to delay repayment of the loan for up to 10 years and Beijing might just agree to this.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has set up a Joint Consultation Mechanism comprising the Chinese Communist Party and Sri Lanka's main political parties to support Belt and Road cooperation. 

Earlier, an expert committee suggested Sri Lankan president Gotabaya Rajapaksa to not accept aid from the United States.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation, which is an American program of foreign assistance to counter China's debt-trap, had offered assistance to Sri Lanka. And hence, Colombo had set-up an expert committee to study the offer.

The experts said that the MCC agreement contains clauses that are not in agreement with the Constitution of Sri Lanka and are detrimental to the sovereignty of the country.