Late to the party? India commits US $ 2bn over next 4 years

India has belatedly joined the recent bidding war to gain further influence in Sri Lanka, by promising to invest US $ 2 billion over the next four years.

“Over the next three to four years, the total investment interests will rise to US $ 2 billion,” Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the media in Colombo this week.

She noted that the investment interests are wide ranging, from energy to transport, infrastructure and real estate. Chinese Ambassador Yi Xianliang earlier this month said that China is willing to invest US $ 5 billion in foreign direct investments (FDIs) in Sri Lanka over the next three to five years if the industrial zone projects China is interested in will be approved by the government.

The very next day, a US trade delegation in town had told Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva that even though the US can’t force its companies to commit FDIs, they would direct the Millennium Challenge Corporation to invest hundreds of millions of dollars for good governance practices.

According to our sister newspaper The Sunday Times, during President Maithripala Sirisena’s visit to the US last week, Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO Dana Hyde had pledged US $ 792 million to Sri Lanka.

China currently has the largest influence in Colombo’s development, with the US $ 1.4 billion Port City, which is expected to bring over US $ 13 billion in additional investments and the Colombo International Container Terminal, which has become the premier terminal in the Colombo Port.
With funding prospects coming from all parts of the world due to the strategic position of Sri Lanka with regards to logistics, the government, which had pursued a pro-Western diplomatic position when it came to power, has since re-evaluated that position.

Dr. de Silva had said that Sri Lanka should be selfish and take all the benefits it could get from anyone willing to provide them.

How the government would manage the diverging viewpoints that come attached with the massive funding remains to be seen.