He explained the said proposal was brought forth during a visit to India in 2017 by the former Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe when the then government signed a memorandum of understanding with India under the patronage of the then Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj. As an extension of this memorandum, in May 2019 the then Minister of Ports and Shipping Ministry signed an agreement on India and Japan to take part in the development of the Colombo harbor terminal.

The current government came to power amidst the above-mentioned interests and now the government has strategically decided the East Terminal must be 100% owned by the Ports Authority of Sri Lanka.