Pakistan’s belt and road offer to Sri Lanka stokes India’s China concerns

Pakistani leader Imran Khan has urged Colombo to participate in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

‘Most worrying’ aspect for New Delhi is proposal for Colombo to use Gwadar port, which analysts say could threaten India’s trade and security

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A Pakistani naval guard at Gwadar port. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:30pm, 3 Mar 2021Updated: 12:38pm, 3 Mar 2021

Pakistan’s offer to Sri Lanka to join its multibillion-dollar trade and infrastructure scheme with China under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative has raised concerns in Indian policy circles, as New Delhi seeks to secure its influence in a region where China’s presence is growing.

On a two-day visit to Colombo last week, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan urged Colombo to participate in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which comprises railways, power plants and the deepwater Indian Ocean port of Gwadar. The CPEC is aimed at offering China a major overland route from its western frontiers to the world but critics have accused it of being a debt trap for Islamabad.

India has kept a close watch on the visit but has not commented on it.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Image: SCMP

“My visit is aimed at strengthening the bilateral relationship [with Sri Lanka], especially trade and economic ties through enhanced connectivity,” Khan said, adding that the CPEC could offer Sri Lanka better connectivity with the rest of Central Asia, through the Gwadar port.

Indian strategic affairs observers said a proposal for Colombo to use Gwadar could be problematic for India’s security, as about 70 per cent of the goods that Sri Lanka’s ports now handle are transhipped to and from India, according to data from the independent Indian think-tank Observer Research Foundation. In 2014 Sri Lanka had allowed a Chinese submarine and warship to dock at the Colombo harbour, raising serious objections from India.