Sri Lanka Will Keep on Working Closely with China: Sri Lankan Official

Posted by on Jan 22, 2015 in Blog | 0 comments

When the previous president was voted out of office in the recent Sri Lankan election and the new administration sworn in, some foreign media, especially Indian, went into a frenzy of reports sand commentaries that the new government would repeal all deals signed with China by the former, particularly the multi-billion dollar port project.

One Indian newspaper went so far as to say it is a big “relief” for India that the new Sri Lankan government intends to review and most likely cancel the port.  The Indians are very anxious about that project because in their view, it would become China’s strategic outpost in the Indian Ocean which they perceive as their sphere of influence.   But, it is a port to be built for the Sri Lankans, not intended for use by the Chinese navy.  So what are the Indians so worried about?

The new Sri Lankan government has just reiterated its readiness to work with both China and India and that the projects signed with the previous government will remain out of respect and fairness.  Here’s a report from IANS:

Sri Lanka’s newly elected government promised to work closely with “key players” India and China and added that the ongoing development projects with international partners would continue, a media report said Wednesday.

“The reality is that we have to work in the Asian region and India and China are two of (the) key players. So we will work very closely with these countries,” said Highways and Investment Promotion Minister Kabir Hashim, according to Xinhua report.

The Sri Lankan government clarified that it had no favouritism or disrespect for any country and would like to work hand-in-hand with all countries in a bid to promote the country’s economy.

Hashim and his deputy Eran Wickremaratne in a meeting with the Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, Wu Jianghao discussed the means of cooperation among the two countries.

The Sri Lankan government said that the country could reap high economic benefits by doing business with China.

Since the end of a three-decade war in 2009, China has loaned about $3 billion to Sri Lanka, mostly for massive infrastructure projects, helping to lay a foundation for the island country’s future development.