Sri Lanka won’t be a part of any Indian Ocean turf conflict: President Ranil Wickremesinghe

Sri Lanka won’t participate in any “big power rivalry” within the Indian Ocean and it’s unlucky that his nation has been made the “punching bag” for Hambantota, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has stated, weeks after India and China clashed over the docking of a high-tech Chinese ship on the nation’s southern port.

Sri Lanka actually doesn’t need the issues of the Pacific coming to the Indian Ocean, he stated whereas talking on the crisis-hit nation’s place on the geo-political stage.

“We don’t participate in a military alliance, and we certainly do not want the problems of the Pacific coming to the Indian Ocean. We don’t want this to be an area of conflict and an area of war. Sri Lanka will not take part in any big power rivalry,” stated Wickremesinghe on Wednesday whereas addressing the commencement ceremony of the National Defense College.

His remarks got here weeks after the Chinese embassy and the Indian High Commission right here clashed verbally over the docking of the Chinese ship ‘Yuan Wang 5’ at Sri Lanka’s southern Hambantota port for replenishment.

Wickremesinghe stated that the “geopolitics of the Indian Ocean has unfortunately made Sri Lanka the punching bag for Hambantota.”

“It is not a military port. Though ours is a commercial port it shows our strategic importance that many people come to conclusions which are unwarranted,” Wickremesinghe stated, in his second public touch upon the problem in latest weeks.

On August 30, President Wickremesinghe appealed to all political events to affix an all-party authorities to sort out the island nation’s worst-ever financial disaster and forestall “strong economies” from utilizing it as a “tool of interference.”

“We can no longer be a nation dependent on loan assistance. We can also no longer be used as a tool of interference by other countries with strong economies,” Wickremesinghe stated with out naming any nation.

In his handle on Wednesday, Wickremesinghe additionally stated that Sri Lanka would keep out of any massive energy rivalry, including that the nation should make sure the rivalry doesn’t result in battle within the Indian Ocean.

“That is one thing we cannot afford,” News First, a web-based portal, quoted Wickremesinghe as saying.

Sri Lanka granted port entry to the Chinese vessel from August 16 to 22.

There have been apprehensions in New Delhi about the potential of the Chinese vessel’s monitoring methods trying to listen in on Indian defence installations whereas being on their method to the Sri Lankan port.

India final month hit again at China for alleging that it was “interfering” in Sri Lanka’s inside affairs, firmly telling Beijing that what Colombo wants now was “support, not unwanted pressure or unnecessary controversies” to serve one other nation’s agenda.

In his handle, Wickremesinghe additionally stated that “if we lose a good security system, our future will be destroyed and the world situation and geopolitics will turn very badly.”

Pointing out that it’s not good for the nation, the President additionally stated that as a rustic, 2030 has been centered on safety.

He defined that Sri Lanka may very well be utilized by terrorist teams to launch an assault towards a 3rd get together and stopping such terrorist assaults shall be a serious problem that Sri Lanka should face sooner or later.

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