Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa announced on Wednesday that a long-delayed Indian and Japanese deep-sea terminalThe approval came after reviewing “regional geopolitical concerns,” Rajapaksa’s office said, a reference to India’s suspicion of Chinese interests at the same port.
However, the project was put on hold amid local opposition. Developing national assets involving foreign actors is a sensitive political issue in the island, particularly for nationalist trade unions. According to some observers, the decision to revive the project signals Colombo’s desire to manage its relations with major powers and stem the perception of it being ensnared by Beijing.
Similarly for Hemant Shivakumar, a Senior Analyst and South Asia specialist at Control Risks, the Rajapaksa government’s decision underlines how its foreign policy is being wedded to economic imperatives. In addition to the ETC, the Japanese-funded Colombo Light Railway project and a $480 million Millennium Challenge Corporation grant from the US were also shelved last year, leading many to believe Colombo was trying to distance itself from financing by the “
The state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority described the deal, with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation providing a 40-year soft loan with a 0.1 percent interest rate, as “ECT is one of the deep seaports at the Port of Colombo and is adjacent to the Colombo International Container Terminal, which China controls an 85 percent stake in with remainder owned by the SLPA.
Haha and China won big time! It’s just so funny when RadicalHinduistState tries to act superpower.
Sri Lanka is a poor country with corrupt officials. They can be bought very cheaply and India/Japan/China are aware of this.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.