Kathmandu, March 5 -- Last week's geopolitical developments provided a spectre that Kathmandu is increasingly becoming a strategic battleground for China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) diplomacy. Visiting US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for South and Southeast Asia Joe Felter alleged that BRI investments in Nepal (and elsewhere) would only serve the Chinese interest. He reiterated the debt-trap hypothesis citing examples of burgeoning Chinese debts in Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Malaysia. The very next day following Felter's remark, the Chinese Embassy in Kathmandu came out with a strongly-worded statement that not only countered the US position as being irresponsible, but also challenged the US: "If a country cannot provide help to...