Colombo/ New Delhi: India is in advanced talks with Sri Lanka to operate an airport on the southern tip of the island, where China has invested heavily as part of its Belt and Road initiative, a Sri Lankan minister said.
Sri Lanka’s civil aviation minister, Nimal Siripala, said the country had been looking for alternative investors in the Hambantota area, where China has built a seaport and is in discussions to build an investment zone and a refinery.
“It was during this time India came up with a proposal,” Siripala said Monday. “They were ready for a joint venture with the Airport and Aviation Services Limited,” he said, referring to the state-run company that runs Sri Lanka’s main airport in the capital Colombo and the one in the south, in Mattala.
The town of Hambantota sits near one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes and is an important part of the Belt and Road initiative, aimed at building trade and transport links across Asia and beyond to Europe.
China runs the seaport with a 99-year lease and was planning to expand its footprint in the area with the refinery, which would be Sri Lanka’s largest, and an investment zone of about 15,000 acres.
Beijing’s projects, backed by loans extended by the Chinese government and initiated by a previous Sri Lankan government, have faced widespread opposition in Sri Lanka.
Local residents facing eviction to make way for the projects have staged numerous protests. Other critics say the Sri Lankan government signed up for unnecessary and loss-making projects, pushing the country into long-term indebtedness.
India has offered to set up a joint venture with Sri Lanka to manage and expand facilities at the loss-making Mattala airport, which sits adjacent to the Hambantota seaport, according to Siripala and an Indian government source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
There was no immediate response from the Indian foreign ministry to a request for comment on the airport deal.
Reuters
