US Invests $553 Million In Adani Port In Sri Lanka To Curb China's Influence
NDTV
China had invested about $2.2 billion in Sri Lanka as of the end of last year, its biggest foreign direct investor.
The US will provide $553 million in financing for a port terminal in Sri Lanka's capital being developed by billionaire Gautam Adani, as New Delhi and Washington look to curtail China's influence in South Asia.
The funding from International Development Finance Corp. underscores renewed US and Indian efforts to loosen Beijing's sway over Sri Lanka after Colombo borrowed heavily to splurge on Chinese port and highway projects before its economic meltdown last year. For Mr Adani, US money may offer a stamp of legitimacy after allegations of fraud by short seller Hindenburg Research erased billions from the conglomerate's market value earlier this year.
The deepwater West Container Terminal in Colombo is the US government agency's largest infrastructure investment in Asia, and among its biggest globally. It will bolster Sri Lanka's economic growth and "its regional economic integration, including with India, a key partner to both countries," DFC said in a statement.
