HAMBANTOTA PORT - INDIAN DIPLOMATIC FIASCO
HAMBANTOTA in Sri Lanka was opened on 18th November 2010. The port was jointly operated by Sri Lanka Port Authority and China Merchant Port. In 2016 the port made a revenue of $11.81 million but incurred heavy loss making the debt repayment nearly impossible. In order to tide over the situation the port was privatised and 80% of the stake was given to the Chinese company. Finding difficulty in paying back the loan amount the previous Sri Lankan government has handed over the port to the Chinese company on a 99 years lease to raise $1.2 billion. Alongwith the port 15,000 acres of land around it was also included in the lease. China has absolute control of the Colombo port city and the Hambantota port and the land around it. The Colombo port city is located at a distance of 700 km from Chennai. The poor Sri Lankan government did the suicidal act in 2017. As on 2018 Sri Lanka owes China $5 billion while they have debt of $960 million to India. China has declared t