Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa plays downs links with China on trip to India

Ties between Colombo and Beijing are ‘purely commercial’, new leader says

If other nations don’t invest in island nation, Beijing will take its Belt and Road Initiative ‘all over’, he says

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Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was elected Sri Lankan president in November. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00pm, 1 Dec 2019Updated: 10:52pm, 1 Dec 2019

Sri Lanka’s newly elected President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa sought to play down his country’s links to China on his first trip to neighbouring India.

The ties between Colombo and Beijing were “purely commercial”, he said in an interview with Indian newspaper The Hindu on Saturday.

Rajapaksa, who won the presidential election last month, also played down the military links between China and Sri Lanka – like the visit of Chinese submarines to the island nation in 2014 when he was defence secretary.

“I think the main issues India has with us would be on [our relations with] China or Pakistan,” he said.

Rajapaksa encouraged companies from around the world to invest in Sri Lanka.

“I want to tell India, Japan, Singapore and Australia and other countries to also come and invest in us,” he said.

“They should tell their companies to invest in Sri Lanka and help us grow, because if they don’t, then not only Sri Lanka, but countries all over Asia will have the same [problem]. The Chinese will take the Belt and Road Initiative all over unless other countries provide an alternative.