Power Sector: New Theatre Of Big Power Rivalry

The resolution of the East Container Terminal saga with a Cabinet decision that the Sri Lanka Ports Authority would retain 100% ownership and control, was widely seen as a victory for nationalist forces in general and the port trade unions in particular. Events that followed however raise doubts as to whether this was but a pyrrhic victory.

- Lasanda Kurukulasuriya

Prospective stakeholders of the East Container Terminal (ECT) project, India and Japan, both made their displeasure known. Apparently by way of compensation for the snub, the government announced its intention to develop and operate the West Container Terminal (WCT) with “government of India and government of Japan nominated parties” along with the Ports Authority (SLPA), as a public-private partnership (PPP). This came as a surprise to many. Indian officials said they had no formal intimation of the move. Delhi was still simmering, and the Indian deputy high commissioner held meetings with Tamil and Muslim political leaders, with the now-familiar incantation of India’s position on devolution and the 13A - a thorny issue in Sri Lanka which tends to be revived periodically by Delhi at psychological moments. Indian PM Modi in Chennai on Sunday waxed eloquent on India’s concerns for the “welfare and aspirations of our Tamil brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka”. The timing of these remarks makes it abundantly clear that these issues are being used as strategic tools, if not weapons, to achieve India’s geopolitical objectives in the region.

But on Friday (12), Indian External Affairs spokesman Anurag Srivastava thought fit to announce that “India’s interest for participation in the Colombo port is a long-standing one.” Delhi possibly recalled what happened when India was given first call, but declined, to build Hambantota Port back then, thereby handing a walk-over to China. India will in all likelihood accept the WCT offer before it stirs up its own share of controversy once the details are made known.

ECT DILEMMA