India wary as China’s Xi talks of cooperation with Sri Lanka

BEIJING: China is willing to work with Sri Lanka for better development of bilateral “strategic cooperative partnership”, President Xi Jinping said on Sunday, a statement that’s expected to be closely tracked by New Delhi as Beijing and Colombo deepen ties.

In a message addressed to Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on the nation’s 70th anniversary of independence, Xi said he pays “high attention” to the development of bilateral ties.

“I pay high attention to the development of China-sri Lanka relations, and I am willing to make concerted efforts with President Sirisena to push the Chinasri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership of sincere mutual assistance and long-standing friendship to keep achieving greater development in the better interest of the two countries and the two peoples,” the Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying.

Recalling the “traditional friendship and mutual assistance between China and Sri Lanka”, Xi said the two countries “have conducted pragmatic cooperation within the framework of joint construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, achieving fruitful results”.

Proposed by China in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative aims to build trade and infrastructure networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.

India has so far not joined the BRI as it has sovereignty concerns as the initiative’s Chinapakistan Economic Corridor passes through POK.

But New Delhi will also be concerned as its neighbours join the BRI and welcome Chinese projects. China emerged as the largest FDI contributor to Sri Lanka in 2017, followed by India and Singapore.