Modi’s Jaffna visit interference in Lankan affairs: Chinese think tank

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Sri Lankan Tamil-dominated Jaffna has been termed as “interference in Sri Lanka’s affaires,” by a leading Chinese think tank. The Chinese officials have said that the recent “incidents” in India-Sri Lankan ties are sufficient to merit Beijing’s attention.

International media outlets and foreign experts of various countries, including China, tracked closely Mr Modi’s visit to Colombo. Most of them were convinced that India gained an upper hand when Sri Lanka decided to review $1.5-billion Colombo Port City Project, the biggest planned Chinese investment in the island nation.

According to an article published in state-run Global Times, Mr Modi’s inclusion of Jaffna, the Tamil-majority Northern Providence, in his Colombo trip, amounted to New Delhi’s interference in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs.

The article referred to Sri Lanka’s new government’s decision to review $1.5-billion Colombo Port City Project agreed during the previous Mahindra Rajapaksa’s regime, which saw a massive upsurge in Chinese investments in the island country.

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