Sri Lanka to Be a “Neutral Country” Working in Collaboration With All Nations, Says President

In a recent visit to New Delhi, the president of Sri Lanka, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said that he wants Sri Lanka to be a Neutral Country that will work with all the countries peacefully, including India. He is the newly elected president of Sri Lanka who has no intention to harm the interests of India or any other country.

According to Gotabaya, Sri Lanka will work as a friendly country with India without giving any problems to India. His country should not be involved in the power struggles of superpowers because the country is quite small, and they cannot handle such balancing acts.

Gotabaya said that he wanted to work with India and China closely without any concerns and issues. He knows the concerns and matters of India and he will not engage in any of the activities that can threaten the security of India and harm the people. He continued that the Indian Ocean is the main sea path to pass the country from east to west and it plays a significant role in geopolitics these days. He wants this sea path to be free and there should be no control of any country on this path.

In the period 2005 to 2015, the relation between Sri Lanka and China was purely commercial. He wants other countries to invest, like India, Japan, Australia, Singapore, etc. He promised to develop an investment-friendly environment in Sri Lanka.

Gotabaya committed that the previous president Maithripala Sirisena made a mistake by providing Hambantota port to China on lease for 99 years. According to him, the deal should be renegotiated because it is fine to provide a small loan for investment but not an economic harbor. He does not want to involve in the military and geopolitical matters of the country as they only want investments to help them.