Sri Lanka Offers Strategic Deep-sea Port To India, Japan

Colombo, March 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 2nd Mar, 2021 ) :Sri Lanka will offer a strategically located deep-sea port to India and Japan, an official said Tuesday, as the island seeks to balance traditional ties against China's rising regional influence.

The government last month abruptly pulled out of an agreement with Delhi and Tokyo to jointly develop the partially built East Container Terminal, located next to a $500-million Chinese-run container jetty within the capital Colombo's sprawling port.

But Colombo reversed course Tuesday, offering the West Container Terminal (WCT), which is yet to be built and located on the other side of the Chinese-run jetty known 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 said the cabinet decided Monday to allow India and Japan to have an 85 percent stake in the West Container Terminal -- the same terms China was granted when building the CICT.

It's unclear how Tokyo and Delhi will divide their majority stake in the port.

The government said the Indian High Commission in Colombo has "approved" Sri Lanka's latest offer.