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Showing posts with the label Colombo harbour

Sri Lanka revives port deal with India, Japan amid China concerns

Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has announced the revival of an Indian and Japanese investment project to develop a deep-sea terminal in Colombo harbour, next to a controversial $500m Chinese-run container jetty. Representative Image A tripartite deal by Sri Lanka’s previous government had been on hold amid trade union resistance but Rajapaksa on Wednesday said the East Container Terminal (ECT) would proceed. The approval came after reviewing “regional geopolitical concerns,” Rajapaksa’s office said, a reference to India’s suspicion of China’s role at the same port. The terminal will be developed with 51 percent ownership by Sri Lanka’s government and the remaining 49 percent as an investment by India’s Adani Group and other stakeholders including Japan, officials said. The state-run Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) entered into a memorandum of cooperation in May 2019 with Sri Lanka, India and Japan to develop the ECT before Rajapaksa came to power in November 2019. The deep-s...