India on Thursday stressed the importance of Sri Lanka adhering to its international commitments relating to development of the East Container Terminal of Colombo Port, days after the island-nation cancelled a trilateral agreement for the project.

India, Japan and Sri Lanka had inked an agreement in 2019 on development of the terminal project. The Sri Lankan government on Monday decided to hand over the project to a state-run company following an agitation against the venture involving India and Japan.

“As is well known, the governments of India, Sri Lanka and Japan had signed a memorandum of cooperation in May 2019 to develop and operate the East Container Terminal of Colombo Port in a trilateral framework,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told the media. “We sincerely believe that the development of infrastructure in Sri Lanka, in areas such as ports and energy, with foreign investment from India and Japan will be a mutually beneficial proposition.”

Srivastava said the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo is in talks with the Lankan government “on the importance of adhering to international commitments”.