China to Develop Strategic Deep Sea Port, Colombo Airport in Sri Lanka

China has promised to develop Sri Lanka’s strategic deep sea port and Colombo airport, said Sri Lanka’s prime minister on Wednesday after holding talks with his counterpart in Beijing.

Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said China — the island’s biggest bilateral creditor — would “assist” Sri Lanka’s restructuring of external debt, a key condition to maintaining a $2.9 billion IMF bailout.

Gunawardena said Beijing had offered “assistance to develop” Colombo International Airport and Hambantota port, the statement added, without giving further details.

A Japanese-funded expansion of Colombo airport had been on hold since Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt default.

The southern sea port of Hambantota was handed to a Chinese state-owned company in 2017 on a 99-year lease for $1.12 billion, sparking security concerns in Beijing’s regional rival India.

India and the United States are both concerned that a Chinese foothold at Hambantota, on the island’s southern coast, could boost its naval power in the Indian Ocean.