Colombo:
Sri Lanka will give a strategically positioned deep-sea port to India and Japan, an official stated Tuesday, as the island seeks to balance conventional ties against China’s increasing regional influence.
The government final month abruptly pulled out of an agreement with Delhi and Tokyo to jointly create the partially constructed East Container Terminal, positioned next to a $500-million Chinese-run container jetty inside the capital Colombo’s sprawling port.
But Colombo reversed course Tuesday, supplying the West Container Terminal (WCT), which is but to be constructed and positioned on the other side of the Chinese-run jetty identified as the Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT).
“The discussions to develop the WCT will be only with India and Japan,” government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella told reporters in the capital.
Rambukwella stated the cabinet decided Monday to enable India and Japan to have an 85 % stake in the West Container Terminal — the exact same terms China was granted when developing the CICT.
It’s unclear how Tokyo and Delhi will divide their majority stake in the port.
The government stated the Indian High Commission in Colombo has “approved” Sri Lanka’s most up-to-date give.
There was no quick response from India’s foreign ministry, and a government spokesman stated Japan has but to respond to the new proposal.
The government blamed trade unions calling for regional rather of foreign improvement for final month’s abrogation of the East Container Terminal, which will now be completed by the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.
Colombo is positioned in the Indian Ocean involving the significant hubs of Dubai and Singapore, which means handle of its ports is very sought right after.
Two Chinese submarines berthed at the CICT — which began operations in 2013 — in 2014, sparking issues in India.
Since then, Sri Lanka has refused permission for additional submarine calls.
In December 2017, unable to repay a big Chinese loan, Sri Lanka permitted China Merchants Port Holdings to take more than the southern Hambantota port, which straddles the world’s busiest east-west shipping route.
The deal, which gave the Chinese firm a 99-year lease, raised fears about Beijing’s use of “debt traps” in exerting its influence abroad.
India and the United States have also expressed issues that a Chinese foothold at Hambantota could give Beijing a military benefit in the Indian Ocean.