Sri Lanka’s Sweet Deal with China Underpins the Belt and Road Initiative Colombo will serve as a potential foothold for expanding Chinese diplomatic and military presence in the Indo-Pacific region. The Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill came into force in Sri Lanka on May 27, 2021. The bill lays out the country’s legal framework regarding a flagship project scheduled to transform the seafront of its bustling capital city into a new port. Many have speculated that this plan will pave the way for the island nation—strategically located at the crossroads of major shipping routes to South Asia, the Far East, Europe and America—to blossom into the next Singapore or Dubai.