APD | Sri Lanka to continue with existing China funded port deal

By APD writer Easwaran

COLOMBO, Dec. 20 (APD) - Sri Lanka has decided to continue with an existing deal with China over a key port in the south of the country.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, on Thursday, said the Hambantota Port deal will not be renegotiated.

The President, who had earlier said that the deal with China must be renegotiated, now said that it will not be renegotiated.

The President told Foreign Correspondents based in Colombo that the Hambantota Port deal will not be renegotiated as it is a commercial contract.

However, he said is important that the security aspects pertaining to the agreement are analyzed.

“It is important that the Sri Lanka Government has the control of all security aspects just as with the other ports in terms of the ships that enter the Port and matters concerning the boarder controls,” the President’s office quoted Rajapaksa as saying.

He said that the concern is understood by the Chinese Government who are willing to work with the Sri Lankan Government in this regard.

In an interview last month the President had said that the Hambantota Port deal was a mistake.

The former Government signed a 99 year lease agreement with China on the Port.

However, Rajapaksa had said that he will request China to agree to renegotiate the agreement.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)