Adani Group has rejected US financing to build a deepwater port in Sri Lanka
New Delhi:
Foreign policy observers say the Adani Group's rejection of funding for the construction of a deepwater port in Sri Lanka is a major blow to US foreign policy.
In a report The Washington PostDirector of the Wilson Center's South Asia Institute, Michael Kugelman, said the loan rejection “is more than symbolic.” It is strategic in the sense that this was really an initiative that U.S. officials saw as a way to meaningfully counter China's own activities. in terms of infrastructure investment in the wider region.”
This $553 million loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation would be the largest infrastructure investment in Asia by the Americans.
The Corporation was founded by President Donald Trump in 2019 to counter China's Belt and Road Initiative. This port project would according to The Washington Post report, a “targeted effort by Washington and New Delhi to counter Beijing's growing influence in the Indian Ocean.”
The Port Terminal in Colombo is an extension of one of the busiest ports in South Asia and is a major junction of major international shipping routes.
In the years under the Rajapaksas, Sri Lanka seemed to become close to the Chinese, as huge loans and investments in infrastructure construction took place on the island. The Chinese also have their own port in Sri Lanka.
On December 11, the Adani Group informed the exchanges in an exchange filing that they would forego the US Corporation loan and finance the port project themselves.
The founder and chairman of Adani Group, Gautam Adani, was quoted by The Washington Post saying, “The bolder your dreams, the more the world will scrutinize you.” Every attack makes us stronger.'
(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group company.)
