‘No pressure from India on Port City project’

The project was suspended in March ahead of PM Narendra Modi’s visit

The Sri Lankan government on Wednesday denied reports that the Indian government is exerting pressure on it to stall the $1.4 billion Colombo Port City Project.

Responding to a query on whether the Indian government is pushing Sri Lanka to suspend the Chinese-funded off-shore city project, Mahishini Colonne, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told reporters that it was “not true.”

Gotabhaya’s remarks

However, she declined to react to a recent comment of former Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on the Indian concerns about the project.

He had reportedly said that when he was Defence Secretary under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had urged him to stop the Chinese-funded project on grounds that it was a threat to the security of India.

According to the Indian High Commission in Colombo, the previous and the present (Sri Lankan) governments are “aware of our views” on the project.

Environmental clearance

In March, a week ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Sri Lanka, the government ordered the suspension of the project.

Three months later, the Central Environmental Authority had been directed to commence “immediately” a complete environmental impact assessment of the project.