The US has invested $553 million for a port terminal being developed by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani in the Sri Lankan capital.
Let us tell you, New Delhi and Washington want to reduce China’s influence in South Asia. And this is the reason why America has decided to invest so much in this sequence.
The financing from the International Development Finance Corp for the deepwater waste container terminal in Colombo is the U.S. government agency’s largest infrastructure investment in Asia, and its largest globally, Bloomberg reported.
It will boost Sri Lanka’s economic growth and “its regional economic integration, including India, a key partner of both countries,” DFC said in a statement.
Let us tell you, after Colombo spent on Chinese port and highway projects before the economic recession last year, this American funding is now seen as a new effort to reduce Beijing’s dominance over Sri Lanka.
At the same time, India also wants to tilt the balance of power in its neighbourhood.
The funding is part of a global acceleration of DFC investments, totaling $9.3 billion in 2023. China had invested about $2.2 billion in the island nation by the end of last year, making it its largest foreign direct investor.
US officials have publicly criticized Sri Lanka’s under-utilized southern Hambantota port, calling it unstable and part of China’s “debt-trap diplomacy.”
DFC said it will work with sponsors John Keells Holdings Plc and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd, relying on their “local experience and high quality standards”.
Due to its proximity to international shipping routes, the Port of Colombo is one of the busiest ports in the Indian Ocean.
About half of all container ships pass through its waters. DFC said it has been operating at more than 90% utilization for two years and needs new capacity.
