By Rathindra Kuruwita

The government is handing over 49% of the East Colombo Terminal (ECT) to India’s Adani Group due to the geopolitical pressure exerted by India, Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), Pubudu Jayagoda says.

Jayagoda said: “When trade unions met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday (13), he told them about the broad geopolitical factors in play. This is reminiscent when the unions met former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe a few years back. The unions told Wickremesinghe what they told Rajapaksa––the ECT could be operated by Sri Lanka in a profitable manner. Wickremesinghe told the union representatives, ‘You are talking about the port, I am talking about geopolitics’.”

The FSP Education Secretary said that while President Rajapaksa said that he would not sell or lease the ECT, the government wanted to give 49% shares to the Indian company and receive a payment for that transaction.

“If we are giving an Indian Company something that is ours and taking money from them, how come it is not a sale?” Jayagoda asked.

Another claim made by the President was that the previous government had signed a deal with India and that he could not cancel it. However, the previous government’s agreement was with both India and Japan. If the administration could drop Japan, why was it not possible to abrogate the agreement with India too, Jayagoda asked.

Jayagoda said that although the government claimed it needed USD 750 million to complete the project, in reality Sri Lanka needed only USD 556 million to finish the ECT but those funds were not required at once. The Ports Authority had already allocated USD 65 million for the project, he said.

During a meeting with trade union representatives, President Rajapaksa for the first time admitted that there would be an Indian involvement in developing the ECT.

Reporting on Rajapaksa’s statement, India’s The Hindu said that “the development comes a week after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Colombo, during which he reportedly urged the Sri Lankan side to expedite finalising the deal. While 66% of the transhipment business at the terminal is linked to India, New Delhi’s strategic interest in having a presence at the Port, located along one of the world’s shipping lanes, is no secret.”