China, Pakistan deepen Sri Lanka ties at India’s expense

[Skyline]

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's decision to skip the Commonwealth Summit in Colombo due to intense domestic political pressure is likely to give China and Pakistan an opportunity to deepen their relations with Sri Lanka at India's expense.

Both China and Pakistan have expanded their footprints in the war-ravaged island nation in recent years, a development that strategic experts say does not bode well for India.

"Sri Lanka's strategic location in the Indian Ocean region is eyed by several countries. This makes Sri Lanka all the more important for India. The PM's trip would have underlined New Delhi's commitment to India. While India shares historical ties with Sri Lanka and has several projects there, other countries in the neighbourhood are increasing their presence in Sri Lanka," said an official, who did not wish to be named.

China started making inroads into Sri Lanka's strategic infrastructure sector about a decade ago. The process gained momentum after LTTE was defeated in May 2009 with the help of arms supplied by China, the official said.

The venue for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) - Bandaranaike Memorial International Convention Hall (BMICH) in Colombo - was also renovated following China's grant of $15.3 million.

On October 24, when Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa moved a resolution asking the Centre to "totally boycott" this year's CHOGM, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was thanking China for renovating the BMICH while inaugurating it. And two years ago, when Jayalalithaa targeted the Centre over the Tamil issue, Sri Lanka was negotiating with China to finalise a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which was the biggest development in Sino-Lanka cooperation since the 1952 Rubber-Rice Pact.

According to China's official press agency Xinhua, 42 Chinese companies were among the 83 foreign companies participating in the trade exhibition 'Reflections of Sri Lanka' being held on the sidelines of CHOGM.

In comparison, only 21 companies will represent India at the exhibition even as India is Sri Lanka's largest trading partner. India has a flourishing FTA with Sri Lanka since 1996 that has helped India-Sri Lanka trade to grow from $600 million in 2000 to $5billion in 2012. But China is looking at increasing trade with Sri Lanka after their FTA. Ever since Tamil sentiments kept India away from Sri Lanka, China stepped in.

China, Pakistan deepen Sri Lanka ties at India’s expense - The Economic Times

 

[Armstrong]

Sri Lanka has had a difficult past few decades dealing with the LTTE Insurgency, I just hope that everything works out in the end towards a prosperous & peaceful Sri Lanka !

 

[SirHatesALot]

Like this is news to us.

 

[Yaduveer]

there come different threads each day about srilanka doing this ...srilanka doing that ...

It's just hogwash.

fact is India's share is 79% of total transhipment of srilanka.

75% of tourists visiting srilanka are Indians.

It require only one travel advisory to indian tourists that will make srilankan economy to get cold.

 

[Hafizzz]

there come different threads each day about srilanka doing this ...srilanka doing that ...

It's just hogwash.

fact is India's share is 79% of total transhipment of srilanka.

75% of tourists visiting srilanka are Indians.

It require only one travel advisory to indian tourists that will make srilankan economy to get cold.

NOPE. The Chinese Government can send more Tourist to Sri Lanka than India ever did.

 

[Yaduveer]

It become a craze in Indian neighbourhood coutries to get attention of India by doing all short of seemingly dangerous but in reality funny and childish moves.

 

[INDIC]

NOPE. The Chinese Government can send more Tourist to Sri Lanka than India ever did.

You mean China's government will force send tourists to Sri Lanka.

 

[Lankan Ranger]

Pakistan PM to arrive in Sri Lanka on Thursday for Commonwealth Summit

Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif will be arriving in Sri Lanka on Thursday, 14 November, 2013 to represent Pakistan at the 53 member Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), scheduled from 15-17 November, 2013.

Sri Lanka : Pakistan Prime Minister to arrive in Sri Lanka on Thursday for Commonwealth Summit 

there come different threads each day about srilanka doing this ...srilanka doing that ...

It's just hogwash.

fact is India's share is 79% of total transhipment of srilanka.

75% of tourists visiting srilanka are Indians.

It require only one travel advisory to indian tourists that will make srilankan economy to get cold.

Chinese tourists flock to Sri Lanka

The number of Chinese tourists to Sri Lanka soared by just over 75 percent during the first nine months of this year, recording one of the highest growth rates for the country's tourism industry, official data showed on Thursday.

Sri Lanka's tourist arrivals jumped by 26.2 percent in September this year, compared to the same period last year, according to data released by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA).
One of the largest increases came from Chinese tourists, increasing 75.4 percent this year compared to the same period for the previous year.

This means that Chinese arrivals rose from 16,623 to 29,153 in the first nine months of 2013.

It is also the highest escalation among the major players in Sri Lanka's lucrative post-war tourism industry.

Chinese tourists flock to Sri Lanka - TRAVEL - Globaltimes.cn 
High powered Sri Lanka-China biz meet on sidelines of top Commonwealth summit

A high powered Chinese business delegation met with their Sri Lankan counterparts here on Tuesday on the sidelines of a top Commonwealth business summit.

A high powered 21 member trade delegation from China met business conglomerates at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC), which is Sri Lanka's premier private sector umbrella organization.

The CCC in association with the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Beijing and the Sri Lanka China Business Council facilitated business interaction for the delegation in conjunction with the Commonwealth Business Forum. "We are quite positive of the outcome of the discussions we had with the Chinese delegates since our focus was to promote more business alliances in construction and real estate sectors", a leading Sri Lankan construction company was quoted as saying in a statement released by the CCC.

The delegates were interested in promoting businesses with local companies dealing with real estate, construction, energy and power, import and export, Jewelry and Auto.

The officials attached to the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in Beijing assured follow up action in order to ensure conclusion of successful business discussions between Chinese and Sri Lankan business partners.

A 100-member strong business delegation has arrived from China to attend the Commonwealth Business Forum (CBF).

Representatives from 42 Chinese companies will also take part in a special trade and investment exhibition on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

CBF is the main event preceding CHOGM and hopes to attract 2 billion U.S. dollars in investment for Sri Lanka. It has also seen the highest number of participants from 95 countries.

There are 30 non-Commonwealth countries attending the CBF in Colombo making it the most widely attended forum in CHOGM's history.

From the Commonwealth, UK leads the list of highest participants with a 150 strong delegation while 250 business representatives have arrived from Africa. Over 800 local delegates and 25 others from Australia make for the number of participants topping 1,500.

High powered Sri Lanka-China biz meet on sidelines of top Commonwealth summit - Xinhua | English.news.cn

 

[Skyline]

there come different threads each day about srilanka doing this ...srilanka doing that ...

It's just hogwash.

fact is India's share is 79% of total transhipment of srilanka.

75% of tourists visiting srilanka are Indians.

It require only one travel advisory to indian tourists that will make srilankan economy to get cold.

Wait a min, who told with you that 75% tourists visiting Sri Lanka are Indians? lol

Sri Lanka is a 65 billion economy but the tourism industry still adding less than 1% to the Sri Lankan economy.

Colombo port is leading port in South Asia (#1), Chinese has 85% share of new terminal means it's a disadvantage to India. It looks like India is totally depend on Colombo port.

 

[rio90]

there come different threads each day about srilanka doing this ...srilanka doing that ...

It's just hogwash.

fact is India's share is 79% of total transhipment of srilanka.

75% of tourists visiting srilanka are Indians.

It require only one travel advisory to indian tourists that will make srilankan economy to get cold.

Lol

75% of tourists in SL are indian ? Are you high on cow urine or something ? From where did you get these stats ? sorry mate Indian fisherman who approach our waters are not considered as tourists !

SL don`t even need Indian tourists..in fact no country does..We want tourists that can spend money like Europeans , Arabs and Chinese...or tourists from Pakistan who genuinely love SL !

Indians have become the biggest burden for immigration as they tend to overstay , start up businesses illegally and also cause other tourists to avoid SL ( most tourists tend to avoid hotels that has lots of indians )

 

[IndoCarib]

ITS OK ! We have the Tamil issue to deal with. Keeping our our Tamil people and Tamil parties happy is more important than keeping a foreign country happy. No irrepairable damage done. No Big loss.

 

[Indian-Lion]

Good luck Sri Lanka, I see you guys hate Indians.. No probs.

 

[JOEY TRIBIANI]

dude all neighbouring countries hates india .

Good luck Sri Lanka, I see you guys hate Indians.. No probs.

 

[Echo_419]

ITS OK ! We have the Tamil issue to deal with. Keeping our our Tamil people and Tamil parties happy is more important than keeping a foreign country happy. No irrepairable damage done. No Big loss.

My damn god
Keeping them Happy
This move has done some serious damage to the Indo-Sl Relations
That will take some time to heal
& If the people of Tamil Nadu really care about the SL Tamils
Then they should have asked us to Further Engage with SL
Invest more in the Northern areas of Sri Lanka

Boycotting them will not achieve anything

 

[Brahmos_2]

NOPE. The Chinese Government can send more Tourist to Sri Lanka than India ever did.

...... LOL!!