Silk Cage Webinar Report: Ports, Power, and Political Access: China’s Strategic Grip over Sri Lanka

The Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs of the Institute for Security and Development Policy (ISDP) held a two-hour webinar on August 31, 2026, during which China’s influence through the Belt and Road Initiative and Sri Lanka’s role in the Indian Ocean were discussed. Our four speakers were Tabita Rosendal, Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Copenhagen; Nilanthi Samaranayake, Adjunct Fellow at the East-West Center in Washington; Dr. Ivan Lidarev, Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian
Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore (NUS), and a Visiting Lecturer at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”; and Dr. Smruti S. Pattanaik, Research Fellow at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi, with ISDP’s head of the Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA) Dr. Jagannath Panda serving as moderator.

The webinar aimed to discuss the following subjects: whether China’s engagement with Sri Lanka can be characterized as being focused on development or long term political and maritime strategy; to what degree Chinese coastal projects form an integrated port-and-logistics architecture; how China influences Sri Lanka’s political environment; in what way Sri Lankan political parties and elites have interacted with China’s presence; and how Sri Lanka can preserve its interests while balancing external partners. The webinar was recorded and has been made available on YouTube. This report summarizes the main takeaways from the webinar in order to, among others, highlight some key factors in China’s relations to Sri Lanka and the wider strategic environment in the Indian Ocean.

It is important to recognize that Sri Lanka’s role within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and China’s wider strategy has changed over time. Chinese strategic investment in Sri Lanka targets local commercial development while also integrating Sri Lanka into a wider network of China-developed ports and maritime infrastructure. The economic development of Sri Lanka has been central to China’s investments and has consisted of a multifaceted approach. Different models of financing have been used, with both Chinese foreign direct investment and loans being used to fund construction. The International Terminal in Colombo Port and Hambantota International Port have bee