Sri Lankan President said- We don’t want to be a sandwich between India and China: said- We are friends with both the countries, we will not support any one of them
Sri Lanka’s new President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has said that he does not want to remain sandwiched between India and China. In an interview to Monocle magazine, Anura said that Sri Lanka does not want to get caught in the ongoing battle for dominance in the world.
He said, “We will neither participate in the race for dominance nor support any country involved in the race. Both the countries (India-China) are our good friends, I hope our partnership will be good in future.”
Dissanayake said that he will also maintain good relations with the European Union (EU), Middle East and Africa. Sri Lanka’s foreign policy will be impartial. In fact, Sri Lanka was trapped in China’s debt trap during the rule of Rajapaksa Brothers. After the economic recession in 2022, Ranil Wickremesinghe improved relations with India.
Disanayake is of leftist ideology. Apart from this, he has also been a critic of India. In such a situation, there were apprehensions that after Disanayake’s victory in Sri Lanka, he would support China instead of India on global issues. However, on the very first day of becoming the President, he made it clear that his foreign policy would not support any one country.
Sri Lanka is a bankrupt country Dissanayake was sworn in as President only yesterday. In the elections held in Sri Lanka after the economic crisis in 2022, he got more than 10 lakh votes than his rival Sajith Premadasa. While the former President of Sri Lanka remained in third place.
Dissanayake said, “Sri Lanka is a bankrupt country. We have a debt of more than 28 lakh crore rupees. My priority is to overcome the country’s economic crisis.” Apart from India and China, the new President of Sri Lanka has also received congratulations from Pakistan and Maldives.
From rebellion to power: Anura relaunched the party 5 years ago and reached the chair of the President Anura, who hails from Thambuttegama in the North Central Province, graduated in science from Kelaniya University in Colombo. He joined the JVP in 1987, when the anti-India insurgency was at its peak. The party led two bloody rebellions.
Anura became the head of the party in 2014. In 2019, the JVP was renamed as NPP. Anura came to New Delhi in February 2024 at the invitation of the Government of India. He met Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
In the meeting, Anura discussed bilateral relations and strengthening them. Jaishankar emphasized that India will always be a trusted friend and reliable partner of Sri Lanka.
After returning from India, Anura had stressed that ‘the high-level meetings with India should not be taken to mean that there has been any change in our party’s ‘political and economic policy’. We can gain a lot from India in sectors like information technology. We are hoping to bring about change in the country. In such a situation, we need international support. We cannot live as an isolated country, we need to strengthen international relations.’
Leaders of Wickremesinghe and Rajapaksa’s parties leaving the country As soon as the election results were announced in Sri Lanka, many politicians and Buddhist monks of Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe’s party left the country from Colombo airport. A senior official said that former minister Susantha Panchinilam left for Chennai on Saturday.
At the same time, United National Party General Secretary Palitha Bandara left for Thailand on Saturday night. Ittekande Saddhatissa left for Hong Kong on Sunday. Earlier, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s brother and former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa had left on Friday itself.
