China port concessions + Pakistan military training + Russia ship-flagging
Hambantota provides a PLAN-accessible deep-water facility in SL's south. Pakistan staff-college exchanges propagate shared counter-terrorism doctrine. Russian interest in ship-flagging would logically benefit from access to a Chinese-managed port. The three share an interest in weakening US-led Indo-Pacific maritime architecture. Coupling is structurally plausible but requires corroboration from port-call records, shipping registry data, and intelligence reporting.
Is there any coordinated PLAN–Pakistan–Russia use of an SL port documented in Tier-A sources? Eastward extension toward Trincomalee would be the visible signal.
