Ahead of India visit, Lankan Prez allays concerns on China

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 19

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe will arrive on Friday for a brief 27-hour visit to discuss debt restructuring and deliverables for India in lieu of bailing out Colombo from its worst-ever economic crisis when there was no help forthcoming from any other country or multilateral bank.

To meet PM Modi

• Ranil Wickremesinghe will arrive on Friday for a brief 27-hour visit
• Expected to discuss loan repayment with PM Modi
• Loans availed when Sri Lanka had run out of food, fuel and medicines

Before embarking on his first India trip after taking over as President, Wickremesinghe made attempts to assuage India’s apprehensions over China. Sri Lanka has announced “standard operating procedure” for future port calls by foreign research vessels and military aircraft, without disclosing details, reported the Lankan media.

New Delhi had raised concerns when a Chinese research vessel, Yuan Wang 5, sought permission to dock at Hambantota in August last year. A day before he fled Sri Lanka, then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had given permission to the research ship to dock from August 16 to 22. Wickremesinghe, who had by then become President, sought to control the damage by stipulating that the ship’s tracking systems and surveillance equipment be turned off while it was in Lankan waters.

Besides reportedly announcing SOPs for port calls by research and military vessels, Wickremesinghe told a TV channel, “We are a neutral country, but we also emphasise on the fact that we cannot allow Sri Lanka to be used as a base for any threats against India.”

In a meeting with PM Narendra Modi, he is expected to discuss the repayment of Indian loans availed when Sri Lanka had run out of food, fuel and medicines. Sri Lanka has reportedly offered a 30 per cent haircut and a nine-year repayment period to all its debtors.

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