By Ashutosh Mishra: Sri Lanka wouldn’t be allowed for use as a base for any threats in opposition to India, President Ranil Wickremesinghe stated immediately, asserting that the island nation stays “neutral”. In a tv interview, the president additionally denied the presence of the Chinese navy in Sri Lanka.
Wickremesinghe, who was on an official go to to the UK and France, made the feedback throughout an interview with France’s state media.
He stated, “We are a neutral country, but we also emphasise the fact that we cannot allow Sri Lanka to be used as a base for any threats against India.”
Responding to a query about China’s perceived navy presence in Sri Lanka, Wickremesinghe stated that the Chinese have been within the nation for hundreds of years however there isn’t a Chinese navy presence, terming experiences of Chinese presence in Hambantota “mere speculation”. He assured that although the Hambantota harbour was given out to China’s retailers, its safety is managed by the Sri Lankan authorities.
“The Southern Naval Command will be shifted to Hambantota, and we have got one brigade stationed in Hambantota in the nearby areas,” he added.
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Wickremesinghe asserted that the island nation has no navy settlement with China and stated, “There won’t be any military agreements. I don’t think China will enter into one.”
Last yr, Sri Lanka allowed the Chinese ballistic missile and satellite tv for pc monitoring ship Yuan Wang 5 to dock on the Hambantota port, elevating fears in India and the US about China’s rising maritime presence within the strategic Indian Ocean area.
The ties between India and Sri Lanka had come underneath pressure after Colombo gave permission to a Chinese nuclear-powered submarine to dock in considered one of its ports in 2014.
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