BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday said he pays “highattention” to strengthening strategic ties with Sri Lanka, as Beijingbeefed up plans to build a Maritime Silk Road project in India’s backyard –the Indian Ocean. In a message to congratulate Sri Lanka on its 70thanniversary of Independence from British rule, Xi told his counterpartMaithripala Sirisena that China is willing to work with it for betterdevelopment of strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries,PTI has reported.
“I pay high attention to the development of China-Sri Lanka relations, andI am willing to make concerted efforts with President Sirisena to push theChina-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership of sincere mutualassistance and long-standing friendship to keep achieving greaterdevelopment in the better interest of the two countries and its people,” hesaid.
Xi also said that China and Sri Lanka have achieved “fruitful results” bytheir display of “pragmatic cooperation” within the framework of the jointconstruction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century MaritimeSilk Road (MSR). India has expressed reservations over MSR as it hassecurity implications for it in Indian Ocean. MSR is part of the Belt andRoad Initiative (BRI).
Proposed by China in 2013, the BRI aims to build trade and infrastructurenetworks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa based on ancient land andmaritime trade routes enhancing China’s global influence.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang too congratulated his Sri Lankan counterpartRanil Wickramasinghe on the occasion. Within the framework of theinitiative on construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the MSR,China wishes to consolidate the traditional friendship with Sri Lanka,strengthen mutual political trust, deepen practical cooperation and pushbilateral relations to a new level, he said in the message.
China has invested over $8 billion in Sri Lanka over the years for variousprojects, including Hambantota port which it acquired on 99 years lease asa debt swap.
It is also building the Colombo port city project, where Sri Lanka plans toestablish an international financial city. China is in the process offirming up its presence in the Indian Ocean with a string of ports whichincluded Hambantota and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
Beijing is also watching warily the developments in Maldives since itrecently plunged into a crisis following a Supreme Court ruling whichordered the release of opposition leaders including former PresidentMohamed Nasheed.
The Supreme Court’s decision has put a question mark on incumbent PresidentAbdulla Yameen who is widely regarded as pro-China and signed several keydeals including a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Beijing.