Sri Lanka China Ties

Anura Kumara Dissanayake - Sri Lanka's new Marxist President - has said he wants to avoid being "sandwiched" between India and China but recognises each as a "valued partner", as he tries to resolve a financial crisis roiling his country.

The south Asian and Indian Ocean region is going through a "difficult time", Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday in an exclusive interview to NDTV. Sri Lanka will hold elections on September 21 to elect the next President.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on Monday said that Colombo has not given permission to a Chinese vessel to dock, adding that Indian security concerns are "important" for Sri Lanka.

China said on Wednesday that it would "play a positive role" in helping bankrupt Sri Lanka get through its debt crisis after agreeing to restructure its loans.

When Sri Lanka slid into its worst economic crisis in seven decades leading to deadly riots and alarming shortages of fuel, food and medicines earlier this year, India stepped into the breach.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today discussed the situation in Sri Lanka, developments in Myanmar and other pressing global challenges at a meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Sri Lanka should kick off debt restructuring talks with its bilateral lender China, while the island state's government seeks a financing loan from the IMF.

While China has so far maintained a conspicuous silence on the dramatic fall of Sri Lanka's pro-Beijing Rajapaksa brothers, experts have warned that the current chaos in Colombo will have a "big impact" on the country's close ties.

India has agreed to develop three Sri Lankan wind farms on islets between the countries, officials said Tuesday, in a victory for New Delhi after the project was taken away from a Chinese firm.

China refused to assist Sri Lanka which appealed to reschedule its huge Chinese debt burden in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak that has adversely affected the tourism sector, said a media report.

China has suspended a project to install hybrid energy plants in three islands of Sri Lanka, citing "security concern" from a "third party", amid reports of India raising concern over its location.

Sri Lanka will offer a strategically located deep-sea port to India and Japan, an official said Tuesday, as the island seeks to balance traditional ties against China's rising regional influence.

China has held its first meeting with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to discuss COVID-19 and poverty relief cooperation besides resuming trade and economic ties disrupted by the pandemic.

Calling the India-Nepal ties as "tall as the Himalayas and as deep as the Indian Ocean," Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said India's goodwill towards its neighbour comes with "no strings attached", however, without naming China, CDS Rawat warned Kathmandu to be cautious when signing agreements with "other countries" in the r...

China has raised objections to what it called U.S. bullying of Sri Lanka after Washington said the Indian Ocean island must make "difficult but necessary choices" regarding its ties with China.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake - Sri Lanka's new Marxist President - has said he wants to avoid being "sandwiched" between India and China but recognises each as a "valued partner", as he tries to resolve a financial crisis roiling his country.

The south Asian and Indian Ocean region is going through a "difficult time", Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe said on Thursday in an exclusive interview to NDTV. Sri Lanka will hold elections on September 21 to elect the next President.

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry on Monday said that Colombo has not given permission to a Chinese vessel to dock, adding that Indian security concerns are "important" for Sri Lanka.

China said on Wednesday that it would "play a positive role" in helping bankrupt Sri Lanka get through its debt crisis after agreeing to restructure its loans.

When Sri Lanka slid into its worst economic crisis in seven decades leading to deadly riots and alarming shortages of fuel, food and medicines earlier this year, India stepped into the breach.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today discussed the situation in Sri Lanka, developments in Myanmar and other pressing global challenges at a meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Sri Lanka should kick off debt restructuring talks with its bilateral lender China, while the island state's government seeks a financing loan from the IMF.

While China has so far maintained a conspicuous silence on the dramatic fall of Sri Lanka's pro-Beijing Rajapaksa brothers, experts have warned that the current chaos in Colombo will have a "big impact" on the country's close ties.

India has agreed to develop three Sri Lankan wind farms on islets between the countries, officials said Tuesday, in a victory for New Delhi after the project was taken away from a Chinese firm.

China refused to assist Sri Lanka which appealed to reschedule its huge Chinese debt burden in the face of the Covid-19 outbreak that has adversely affected the tourism sector, said a media report.

China has suspended a project to install hybrid energy plants in three islands of Sri Lanka, citing "security concern" from a "third party", amid reports of India raising concern over its location.

Sri Lanka will offer a strategically located deep-sea port to India and Japan, an official said Tuesday, as the island seeks to balance traditional ties against China's rising regional influence.

China has held its first meeting with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to discuss COVID-19 and poverty relief cooperation besides resuming trade and economic ties disrupted by the pandemic.

Calling the India-Nepal ties as "tall as the Himalayas and as deep as the Indian Ocean," Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Thursday said India's goodwill towards its neighbour comes with "no strings attached", however, without naming China, CDS Rawat warned Kathmandu to be cautious when signing agreements with "other countries" in the r...

China has raised objections to what it called U.S. bullying of Sri Lanka after Washington said the Indian Ocean island must make "difficult but necessary choices" regarding its ties with China.