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Strategic Vision vol. 10, no. 49 (May, 2021)
Cause for Suspicion Beijing’s growing influence in Sri Lanka stokes security concerns in New Delhi Mary Kavita Dominic
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ri Lanka has reneged on a 2019 tripartite agreement with India and Japan that would have provided for the joint development of an East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Port of Colombo, putting a damper on New Delhi’s plans to amplify island diplomacy across the Palk Strait. Strategically positioned in the Indian Ocean, this project was envisioned as a counterbalance to the Chinese game of checkers in the region. Belying these expectations, however, the cabinet of Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa has unilaterally shelved this scheme, purportedly at the behest of port trade unions and nationalist groups who vehemently opposed the sale of national assets
to India. At the same time, other development projects in the island-nation, which bear the imprint of foreign powers like China, have not faced any similar pushback in the country. Implicit in this seemingly contradictory stance is a complex socio-political history that Sri Lanka shares with its regional neighbors, together with economic and security imperatives that pull its domestic forces in different directions. These dynamics are reflected in the collapse of the ECT infrastructure venture, a fact that Indian analysts will have to take into account as they recalibrate their strategic calculus in the Indian Ocean. The maritime domain is a critical component in
photo: Roel Raymond Colombo is the capital city of Sri Lanka, which occupies a strategic position in the Indian Ocean.
Mary Kavita Dominic is a policy research associate with the Synergia Foundation. She can be reached at marykavitadominic@gmail.com