Sri Lanka will NOT participate in any military alliance, and certainly does not want the problems of the pacific coming in to the Indian Ocean, said President Ranil Wickremesinghe in Colombo on Wednesday (14).
Wickremesinghe speaking on Sri Lanka’s position in the geo-political stage said the country’s importance has appreciated and depreciated.
However, he said that the geo-politics of the Indian ocean has unfortunately made Sri Lanka the punching bag for Hambantota.
“It is not a military port. Though we are a commercial port it shows our strategic importance that many people come to conclusions which are unwarranted,” he said.
The President said that he hopes the next agreement Sri Lanka come to with China will not cause such speculation and such agreements will only be about debt reduction for Sri Lanka.
“We don’t participate in military alliance, and we certainly do not want the problems of the pacific coming in to the Indian Ocean. We don’t want this to be an area of conflict and area of war. Sri Lanka will not take part in any big power rivalry,” said President Ranil Wickremesinghe.
He also noted that Sri Lanka will stay out of any big power rivalry, adding that the country must ensure that big powers’ rivalry does not lead to conflict in the Indian Ocean. “That is one thing we cannot afford,” he said.
Press release from the PMD attached below
