China not allowed to use Hambantota Port for military purposes: Sri Lankan President

International

pti-PTI

Colombo,
Aug
16:
China
will
not
be
allowed
to
use
the
southern
port
of
Hambantota
for
military
purposes,
Sri
Lankan
President
Ranil
Wickremesinghe
has
said,
apparently
attempting
to
allay
fears
in
India
and
the
US
about
China’s
increasing
maritime
presence
in
the
strategic
Indo-Pacific
region.

Wickremesinghe
said
this
ahead
of
the
arrival
of
a
high-tech
Chinese
research
ship,
which
on
Tuesday
docked
at
the
Hambantota
Port,
which
Beijing
took
over
on
a
99-year-lease
as
a
debt
swap
in
2017.

“We
do
not
want
Hambantota
to
be
used
for
military
purposes,”
Wickremesinghe
said
on
Sunday
in
an
interview
with
the
Yomiuri
Shimbun
newspaper
at
the
President’s
House
in
Colombo.
His
statement
to
the
Japanese
newspaper
was
apparently
aimed
at
allaying
fears
in
India
and
the
United
States
about
China’s
increasing
maritime
presence
in
the
Indo-Pacific.

The
port
was
developed
as
part
of
China’s
Belt
and
Road
Initiative,
but
Colombo
leased
the
port
to
Beijing
in
2017
because
it
became
unable
to
pay
back
the
loan.

Wickremesinghe
emphasised
that
there
was
no
problem
with
loaning
the
port
to
China,
saying,
“this
is
nothing
new.”
He
pointed
out
that
countries
such
as
Australia
and
South
Africa
have
also
leased
ports.

The
Hambantota
Port
was
funded
largely
by
Chinese
interest
loans.
According
to
official
data
from
the
Sri
Lankan
government,
China
is
Sri
Lanka’s
largest
provider
of
foreign
debt.
Struggling
to
repay
what
it
owes,
Colombo
has
leased
the
southern
port
to
Chinese
state-owned
enterprises
for
99
years.

Sri
Lanka
can
be
said
to
have
fallen
into
a
debt
trap,
sinking
deeply
into
debt
before
effectively
handing
over
the
port’s
control
to
China.
India,
the
United
States
and
other
countries
are
concerned
that
Hambantota
Port,
which
is
a
key
traffic
hub
in
the
Indo-Pacific,
could
become
a
military
foothold
for
China.

“The
present
ship
did
not
come
under
the
category
of
military.
[It]
came
under
the
category
of
a
research
ship.
That
is
how
[we]
permitted
the
ship
to
come
to
Hambantota,”
Wickremesinghe
said,
indicating
his
stance
to
maintain
certain
ties
with
China.
Sri
Lanka
is
in
a
serious
economic
crisis
due
to
a
shortage
of
foreign
currency.

The
president
said
he
intended
to
finalise
talks
with
the
International
Monetary
Fund
over
a
bailout
by
the
end
of
August.
“We
will
also
start
the
discussions
with
our
creditors
…
China,
India
and
Japan
are
the
largest
creditors,”
he
said.

Wickremesinghe,
73,
was
elected
president
on
July
20,
following
the
resignation
of
former
President
Mahinda
Rajapaksa,
who
fled
the
country
amid
the
turmoil
caused
by
the
economic
crisis.