India Is Helping Sri Lanka Lessen Dependence on China: Expert

China's research and survey vessel, the Yuan Wang 5, arrives at Hambantota port on Aug.16, 2022. Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty Images

India is helping Sri Lanka reduce its dependence on China, according to Cleo Paskal, an associate fellow at the Asia-Pacific Programme at London-based Chatham House.

“India has been extending loans, and it sent fertilizer. It’s been really trying to–again–on the political warfare front, create a situation where Sri Lanka isn’t so dependent on China,” Paskal said during an interview with The Epoch Times’s sister media NTD News.

Sri Lanka Crisis

Sri Lanka has $10 billion in bilateral debt as of August 2022, of which 44 percent is owed to China, according to Sri Lanka’s finance ministry (pdf). Japan holds 32 percent of Sri Lanka’s debt while India holds another 10 percent.