Adani Ports has said that it plans to withdraw from a container terminal project in Yangon—Myanmar's financial capital. The Ahlone port where Adani Group was working is owned by the military that currently runs the country.

On February 1 this year, Myanmar's military generals had deposed elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and usurped power. Since then, the junta has been facing staunch opposition from within and wide-ranging sanctions on military figures and military-controlled entities from the US and its allies.

Myanmarese news magazine, The Irrawady said: "The company's risk management committee, after a review of the situation, has decided to work on a plan on exiting the company's investment in Myanmar, including exploring any divestment opportunities".

The Yangon Port Terminal (Photo: Google Maps)

The company highlighted this in its operational and financial highlights statement, adding that it could exit the strife-torn South-East Asian nation by June 2022.

Adani Ports had last year won the bid to build and operate the Yangon International Terminal. It was granted permission by the Myanmar Investment Commission in April 2019 to develop, operate and maintain Ahlone International Port Terminal 2 on 54 acres of land, with a 630-metre jetty owned by the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).

However, MEC came under US sanctions along with other military-related organisations and individuals running the country after ousting the country's elected government.

In March 2021, the Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ) and Justice for Myanmar (JFM) published a report saying that the Adani Group will make payments to MEC which had already been put under sanctions by the US.

This May, Adani Ports said that it would abandon the project and write down the investment if it was found violating US sanctions.

Foreign companies which have links with the military junta are halting their projects or exiting them.

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