MEA reacts to Sri Lanka's decision to scrap a port deal with India

Indian foreign ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said that the talks were aimed at overcoming the impasse over the cancellation of the pact to operate the ECT by the Sri Lankan government. The Sri Lankan government is in talks with private investors involved in a three-way pact between New Delhi, Colombo and the government of Japan to operate the East Container Terminal (ECT) of Colombo Port.

New Delhi: Commenting on SriLanka's decision to cancel the East Container Terminal ECT deal with India, the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said that India's interest in participation in the Colombo port is a long-standing one.

Addressing a virtual press briefing here on Friday, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "India’s interest for participation in the Colombo port is a long-standing one. India’s interest in participation in the Colombo port is a long-standing one since most goods handled there are from and to India. We had, in principle, agreement from the Sri Lankan Government in this regard. Current Government has, however, expressed a preference in engaging investors directly. I understand discussions are still underway."

"We had, in principle, agreement from the Sri Lankan Government. The Current Government has, however, expressed a preference in engaging investors directly", he added.

Earlier this month, the Mahinda-Rajapaksa led government scrapped a port deal with India reneging from an earlier agreement signed in 2019.

After the Sri Lankan government decided to cancel the port deal with India and announced to operate the East Container Terminal as a wholly-owned container terminal of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority, the country’s cabinet had later approved a proposal to develop the west terminal of the Colombo port as a Public-Private Partnership with Japan and India.

Reacting on the same, the Ministry of External Affairs had earlier said that India's High Commissioner in Colombo is in discussion with the Government of Sri Lanka on several issues including the importance of adhering to international commitments.

The governments of India, Sri Lanka, and Japan had signed a memorandum of cooperation in May 2019 to develop and operate the East Container Terminal of Colombo port under a trilateral framework.

"We sincerely believe that the development of infrastructure in Sri Lanka in areas such as ports and energy from India and Japan will be a mutually beneficial proposition," MEA spokesperson had stated.