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Sunday, 23 June 2013

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Lanka's relations with both India, China strong - Prof. G.L. Peiris

External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris said Sri Lanka enjoys a strong relationship with both India and China, as well as others countries, but none can use its soil to harm a friend.

He said,"Sri Lanka has "emphatically and consistently" insisted that "on no occasion" would Sri Lankan soil be allowed to be used in a manner intended to harm any other friend of Sri Lanka."

Addressing the Australian Institute of International Affairs in Sydney on 'Between two Giants: Sri Lanka in the Asian Century' Minister Peiris described the relationship with India as "rich and full", in which the "destinies of India and Sri Lanka are inextricably intertwined". He said the mutual understanding between the two nations is under a "natural restraining mechanism", preventing any problems from exacerbating.

"With the tourism industry growing rapidly in Sri Lanka, it may be surprising that the biggest number of tourists to the nation is from neighbouring India." The Minister said India is Sri Lanka's largest trading partner, stemming from the Free Trade Agreement established in 1998 between the two nations. He acknowledged that there are natural fears of the marked disparities in size when engaging with any giant.

Prof. Peiris rebuked any assertion that China has any predetermined motives behind its engagement with Sri Lanka. He said the fact of the matter is that "in the cold light of reason" Sri Lankan relationships with China have "stood the test of time".

Evidencing this long-standing relationship referring to China's gifting of a number of buildings in Colombo as a "no strings attached expression of the warmth of the feelings toward Sri Lanka", Prof. Peiris emphasised that there is "no question of ownership, or equity, or control" of any new infrastructure, including ports, within Sri Lanka which has been funded by China.

The Minister said Sri Lanka has "not been challenged as much as we might have been" by the global financial crisis due to smart economic choices. Economic growth in Sri Lanka's attributed greatly to the development of successful physical exports in high quality apparels for niche markets, such as Victoria's Secret rather than attempts to compete with other apparel exporting countries on a mass scale.

After "vanquishing the forces of terror", Sri Lanka has "found a way out of the woods" and has expressed the desire to continue such developments both within Sri Lanka and in its relationships with other nations including the two giants, he said.

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