COLOMBO, Jan. 18 -- Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is to visit Sri Lanka soon. Though initially the visit was said to be de "in the coming days", an English language weekend paper, quoting a top foreign ministry source said, "it has now been pushed back by a few weeks". Arrangements for the visit, however, are underway.

Imran Khan's proposed visit is significant in the context of India and China making vigorous efforts to strengthen their ties with Sri Lanka, which has assumed strategic importance in the Indian Ocean region. Clearly, Pakistan does not want to be left out of the competition to woo Sri Lanka.

The Indian Ocean is now a theatre of conflict between India and the US on the one hand, and China on the other. Pakistan, which...