Sri Lanka Must Remain Mindful Of Our Excellent Bilateral Ties: India On Chinese Funding Of Colombo Port City Project

Amid rising concerns on Chinese funding of the Colombo Port City project in Sri Lanka, India on Thursday (17 June) raised concerns and said that it expected the neighbouring island country to remain mindful of bilateral cooperation, reports Times of India.

While emphasising that India has an extensive portfolio of partnership development projects in Sri Lanka and that it was in contact with the authorities there, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)'s spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "We have also noted the concerns that have been raised in Sri Lanka regarding... the Colombo Port City."

Bagchi added, "We expect Sri Lanka will remain mindful of our excellent bilateral cooperation, including mutual security in our shared environment, which includes the maritime domain."

It should be noted that the official Indian comments regarding the project have come at a time when the Sri Lankan Parliament had recently approved the controversial $1.4 billion Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill. The Sri Lankan government has said that the project would bring in investments.