Adani Group has been working to challenge China's maritime dominance

On 8th November, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation announced its commitment to provide $553 million in financing for a port terminal in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, which is partly owned by the Indian conglomerate Adani group. Adani counters China’s presence in Sri Lankan waters China gained control over a terminal in Sri Lanka’s Colombo port through its notorious debt trap strategy, posing a serious risk to India. Speaking to Bloomberg last year, she said, India “is worried about Chinese access to the Indian Ocean, and being encircled by Chinese friendly regimes in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.” She added that Adani’s supplanting of China’s solar power projects represented “a strategic move and one that we are likely to see more of.” Samantha Custer is the director of policy analysis at AidData, a research unit at William & Mary University in Virginia. Speaking to Bloomberg last year, she said that India likely has a vested interest in having one of its own companies build a port terminal close to China’s own port project. However, the Chinese move was matched soon after as Adani also bought another port close to China’s project taking away its leverage of being a sole player and dominating the region.