Sri Lankan minister defends government’s decision to permit Chinese military training ship

PTI Colombo: Sri Lanka’s newlyappointed Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath on Tuesday defended the government’s move to allow a Chinese military training ship to arrive in Colombo, saying the decision falls within the framework of the country’s diplomatic engagements and such visits “pose no threat”. He was responding to a question on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy training warship “Po Lang” which arrived at the port of Colombo on Tuesday “as part of an ocean-going voyage aimed at enhancing the professional capabilities of midshipmen and conducting naval exchanges with other countries,” said a statement.

Herath, also the Cabinet Spokesman, said Sri Lanka maintains balanced diplomatic relations with all countries. He said the government’s decision to allow the Chinese military training vessel to visit Sri Lanka falls within the framework of the country’s diplomatic engagements. “We are happy to allow military training ships. They pose no threat,” Herath said. “We have seen military ships arriving from Germany and the US”. The previous government had placed a moratorium on allowing foreign scientific research survey vessels in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Sri Lanka.

Hearth’s predecessor Ali Sabry in July said that Sri Lanka was to review the moratorium to decide if to continue with it or lift it. India had repeatedly raised concerns over several Chinese research vessels in the Sri Lankan waters. Herath said Sri Lanka would continue to allow visits by military training ships to maintain international cooperation while safeguarding national interests.