BANGKOK -- Sri Lanka's hawkish President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has caved in to Indian pressure for a stake in the Port of Colombo, the busiest harbor in the strategically located South Asian island where China already has a foothold.
Rajapaksa's retreat came on the heels of a visit earlier this month by Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to India's smaller southern neighbor, where he laid down unequivocal terms for Indian-backed development of a container jetty in the port. The Sri Lankan government has given the nod after taking into account "regional geopolitical concerns," a statement from Rajapaksa's office said after the talks.
