Sri Lankan PM Seeks Indian And Japanese Investments Amid Criticism Of Over-Reliance On China

After having to give up Sri Lankan control of the strategic port of Hambantota to a Chinese company, the Sri Lankan Prime Minister (PM) Ranil Wickremesinghe now wants to curtail the country’s dependence on Chinese investments, Times of India has reported.

"We've been looking at inviting a broad range of foreign investors. Initially the investors will come from China, Japan, India. Then the others will follow. We'd like to see them coming in from Europe," the Sri Lankan PM said at a business conference on Monday (26 March).

Sri Lanka has been under a huge debt burden since the last few years with the country spending as much as 80 per cent of government revenue to service outstanding debts. To alleviate the burden, Sri Lanka was forced to give up as much as 85 per cent of its stake in its Hambantota port to the Chinese.

The port has now been leased out for 99 years to two Chinese firms as Sri Lanka had struggled to keep it operational.

After India had expressed its interest in leasing Hambantota’s airport during the Sri Lankan PM’s visit to New Delhi last year, Wickremesinghe now wants to court other Asian investors too. The Japanese are reportedly interested in investing in the Colombo port and the Trincomalee port which has served as naval base since colonial times.

Also Read: After China Took Sri Lanka’s Strategic Hambantota Port India Rushes In To Lease Nearby Airport