Chinese Ambassador proposes trilateral cooperation involving China, India, Sri Lanka

At a time when there is a thawing of China- India relations, Chinese Ambassador in Colombo Qi Zhenhong recalled how he, at the beginning of his stint in Colombo, proposed a trilateral cooperation involving Sri Lanka, China and India.

The Ambassador made these remarks last Friday during an interactive dialogue with the representatives of media and think-tanks. He made these remarks in response to a question directed at him by one participant about the easing of restrictions in India for Chinese investments.

Recently, there has been a thaw in bilateral relations between India and China. The two global economic giants have taken a number of steps for the development of relations including the resumption of direct flights after a five-year hiatus. Relations have been showing signs of improvement since early last year. Both sides occasionally sent out positive signals. The recent global developments would have prompted the two countries to get close to each other while managing tension over the border dispute.

India approved easing restrictions on Chinese investments in select sectors on Tuesday, in a major step by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to rebuild ties with Beijing and end six years of friction, as reported by Reuters and widely quoted by the Indian media. They have even highlighted the timeline of events that led to the improvement of ties. 

In April, 2020, India introduced heightened scrutiny for all investments from nations it shares a land border with, including China. 

New Delhi says the move is to curb opportunistic takeovers of Indian companies during the COVID-19 pandemic. In June 2020, India banned 59 mostly Chinese apps, including TikTok, WeChat, and UC Browser, citing national security concerns. In July 2022, China’s Great Wall Motor shelves plans to invest $1 billion in India after failing to obtain regulatory approvals, becoming one of the biggest casualties of New Delhi’s increased scrutiny of investments from Beijing, according to the same report.

In July 2023, India rejected a $1 billion investment proposal by Chinese automaker BYD amid continued security concerns. In October 2024, India and China reach a deal on patrolling their disputed frontier to end a four-year military stand-off. In July 2025, India’s top government think tank, NITI Aayog, proposes allowing Chinese companies to take up to a 24 per cent stake in Indian firms without security clearance, aiming to reduce delays caused by the post-2020 scrutiny regime.

In August 2025 – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China for the first time in over seven years, in a further sign of a diplomatic thaw with Beijing. He did it in the backdrop of tensions rising with the United States rise.

Besides, in December, 2025, India freed up business visas for Chinese professionals to end technician scarcity on factory floors that cost output worth billions of dollars over the years.

“It should be the right choice for China and India to be good-neighbourly friends and partners that help each other succeed, and have the dragon and the elephant dance together,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping at his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Tianjin last year.

He even used the dragon and elephant metaphor to describe the ties between China and India. They try to remain with robust ties despite tension at times, as suggested by the metaphor.

The Chinese ambassador in Colombo was asked to make comments during the dialogue against such a backdrop only. 

“When I first arrived in Sri Lanka, I made a proposition that China, India and Sri Lanka should form a trilateral cooperation effort. In fact, it is just a matter of one side. You change your mind. You make the right decision,” he said.

However, he did not elaborate further in this regard.

The Ambassador has reason to seek such trilateral cooperation. China could not carry out some of the projects in Sri Lanka due to objections by New Delhi which cited security reasons. One is the involvement of Chinese research vessels in Sri Lankan territorial waters. 

Sri Lanka has currently introduced a moratorium. Currently, the government is in the process of working out a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for vessels from any country to get involved in research work. 

Also, Sri Lanka abandoned a wind power project in the north, offered to a Chinese company after India protested. 

As the ambassador said, it was an idea he proposed way back when he came here. It has not yet seen the light of day since there is no response either from Sri Lanka or India.

While China appears keen to revive the idea, its success will ultimately depend on how India views such an arrangement and how Sri Lanka positions itself amid competing geopolitical interests.

UN influence on the wane

Referring to the conflict in the Gulf, the ambassador raised concerns about the declining influence of the United Nations in maintaining peace and addressing contemporary global crises. He argued that the world must reflect on the direction humanity is heading, particularly at a time when geopolitical rivalries and unilateral actions appear to be eroding multilateral cooperation.

Recalling that the United Nations was established in the aftermath of World War II to prevent future conflicts and promote development, the ambassador stressed that the institution had played a significant role in advancing peace and prosperity over the past eight decades. 

However, he acknowledged that the organisation now faces growing challenges and questions about its effectiveness in a rapidly changing global landscape.

“We always safeguard the authority of the United Nations. But this requires a united effort of the international community. The United Nations was founded after World War II and has been 81 years since its foundation. The United Nations, since its initiative, has contributed a lot in promoting peace and development for humanity. But it also faces many problems and questions, “he said.

He said that China’s main goal is to achieve a peaceful, orderly, multilateral, inclusive and non-contradictory globalisation.

“We champion equality among countries, regardless of their size, their strength and their wealth. It is because we want to avoid a situation where a strong country can bully the weak, and a big country can bully the small. It is sad to see that the law of the jungle and the might that is right also occurs in the world from time to time, “he said.

“We champion universally beneficial and inclusive development because we believe that globalisation should benefit all countries. We should not let some countries develop at the cost of the interests of other countries. Different countries have different history and national conditions,” he said.

He said that respect for each country’s chosen path of development was essential for maintaining harmony in the international system.

“That is why we should respect every country’s own choice of its development path. This is what we call inclusiveness,” he said.

We can see that the world is far from being at peace. We have a lot of traditional threats, including territorial disputes and violations. We are also facing many non-traditional threats, like climate change, public health issues, and COVID-19 also did affect us,” he said.