Chinese provinces built big-ticket infra on debt. Now a $23-tn crisis threatens to derail Xi’s BRI

New Delhi: China's outreach for President Xi Jinping's foreign policy crown jewel, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), may slow down as it faces a $23 trillion local debt crisis, experts have told ThePrint. India has opposed joining the BRI — a grand project that aims to connect nations and continents through mega highways, road and rail connectivity projects, promoting trade and investment. At the November 2022 summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of Government, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had said that "connectivity projects should respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of member states and…