Japan Sri Lanka Cooperation

Japan has pledged to help strengthen Sri Lanka's maritime security, authorities said Tuesday, in a new sign of efforts to counter China's strategic grip on the Indian Ocean island.

Fuming over Japan's efforts to forge maritime security cooperation with India during the just-concluded visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a state-controlled Chinese daily today accused Tokyo of attempting to "encircle" China by building strategic alliances in the neighbourhood.

Japan has pledged to help strengthen Sri Lanka's maritime security, authorities said Tuesday, in a new sign of efforts to counter China's strategic grip on the Indian Ocean island.

Fuming over Japan's efforts to forge maritime security cooperation with India during the just-concluded visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a state-controlled Chinese daily today accused Tokyo of attempting to "encircle" China by building strategic alliances in the neighbourhood.