Last week, Italy joined China and signed deals worth almost $3 billion. The significance here lies not in the relatively small sum of money involved, but in the fact that these deals have been signed under the new Chinese aggressive policy of Belt and Road Initiative. Italy succumbing so easily is a little surprising. Consider this: the erstwhile mighty Roman Empire kowtowing to the diktats of China! Unbelievable, but in the fast-changing geopolitical situation, this is a fact. China is in a very strong strategic position and its bargaining power, though fluctuating with the on-going tariff war with the United States, is still very high. Of late, Italy has been going through economic problems and its banks – including its oldest bank Monte dei Paschi – are in deep trouble. Its national carrier, Alitalia can, hands down, win the trophy for the 'worst airline of the world', if there were such an award, even beating Air India by a large margin. The political leaders in Italy are looking forward to the Chinese funds to give a new lease of life to Alitalia. What a shame! At least in India, Air India is survived by the Indian taxpayers' money. The role of the Italian mafia in its politics and business is an open secret. The Morandi Bridge collapse in Genoa in August last year, which lead to the death of forty people and the mafia connection revealed in investigations later, leave no doubt in the minds of curious observers that the fundamentals of doing business in the country have been terribly shaken. About ?1 billion has been spent in the last five years on upgrading and maintaining the highways by a private company that managed the bridge. One can imagine where all that money had gone. Political debauchery in Italy at the time of Silvio Berlusconi as the Prime Minister a few years ago was matched only by our own Narayan Dutt Tiwari, who was forced to undergo a paternity test by a court's order – which shockingly gave a positive result – and had earlier brought disgrace to the Governor's office in Andhra Pradesh due to his promiscuity and indiscreet conduct. He is no more, but still, is considered to be a tall political leader, who at one point in time, was even in the race of the prime minister's position in the country. Phew! Signing some of the business deals with China may look innocuous as there are a good number of Italian companies getting their goods manufactured in China, and some Italian companies have Chinese workers manufacturing their products. But the Chinese getting cosy with Italy with the Belt and Road Initiative is a disturbing signal. China is making its presence felt in Europe very strongly to counter the American influence – under Trump's hostile policies – and in the process make new friends, interestingly on its own terms. With pots of gold, lightning speed decision-making, and flawless execution, Chinese businesses – fully backed by their government – are truly a delight for any economy. The question is, at what cost? Can a country directly or indirectly let a foreign nation take a slice of its sovereignty? Italy itself has to be blamed for the desperate position it is in today. China keeps on trying with all sorts of tricks – trade, force, military, provoking neighbours, diplomacy, dumping dirt-cheap goods, bidding for major projects, supplying equipment, cheap labour, etc. – to entice India, and somehow make the country and its people dependent. So far, India has succeeded in thwarting all such moves. Sri Lanka and Pakistan are heavily dependent on China and are almost in its pocket. With Europe not in its best shape – Brexit, secessionist movements in several countries, the refugee problem, warring factions, sliding economy, stagnant population, etc. – China's discreet onslaught may prove to be the last straw on camel's back. India has to be very cautious. Our small- and medium-sized companies are often over-zealous to do business with Chinese companies at very unreasonable terms, as the latter are too rigid to have every legal clause in the contract according to their law and in their jurisdiction. India will do well not to get into the Chinese trap. The country doesn't need to have noodles with kadhi-pakoda. Let Italy enjoy pasta with Manchurian. The author is a professor at IIM-A, akagarwal@iima.ac.in

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