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Foreign policy watchers say the Adani Group's rejection of funding to build a deepwater port in Sri Lanka is a big blow to the United States' foreign policy.
In a report in The Washington Post, Director of the Wilson Center's South Asia Institute, Michael Kugelman, said the rejection of the loan "is more than symbolic. It is strategic in the sense that this really was an initiative that US officials saw as a way to meaningfully counter China's own activities in terms of infrastructure investments in the broader region."
This $553 million loan by the US International Development Finance Corporation was to be the largest infrastructure investment in Asia by the Americans.
The Corporation, in fact, was set up in 2019 by President Donald Trump to counter the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. This port project was to be, according to The Washington Post report, a "focused effort by Washington and New Delhi to counter Beijing's rising influence in the Indian Ocean."
The port terminal in Colombo is an extension of one of the busiest ports in South Asia and is an important node to key international shipping routes.
In the years under the Rajapaksas, Sri Lanka was seen to be getting close to the Chinese, as massive loans and investment in infrastructure building took place on the island. The Chinese also have their own port in Sri Lanka.
On December 11, the Adani Group informed the bourses in an exchange filing that they would forgo the loan by the US Corporation and fund the port project on their own.
Adani Group Founder and Chairman, Gautam Adani was quoted by The Washington Post as saying, "The more bold your dreams, the more the world will scrutinise you. Every attack makes us stronger."
(Disclaimer: New Delhi Television is a subsidiary of AMG Media Networks Limited, an Adani Group Company.)