Balancing Act? Sri Lanka To Offer Trincomalee Port Development To India

Sri Lanka is set to develop the Trincomalee port jointly with India, says a Times Now report. It says a memorandum of understanding for the joint development of the port is likely to be signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Colombo.

In January, when a Sri Lankan minister said terms were being discussed to offer the northeastern port to India, New Delhi denied any talks were underway and said it had no interest in taking on the port since it would not be profitable for a long time.

Sri Lanka’s continued offer to hand over the port to India is seen as a geopolitical counterbalance by the country to its move offering 80 per cent of its Hambantota port to China for 99 years - after India first rejected the offer, again on the grounds of profitability.

China has since been allowed to build a special economic zone in Hambantota and expand the Mattala airport. This has not gone down well with New Delhi, which has been quite vocal about its reservations to higher Chinese presence down south, not far from its coastline.