Lanka defends joining OBOR, welcomes Rajini
Sri Lankan foreign minister Ravi Karunanayake on Wednesday defended his country’s participation in the One Belt One Road (OBOR), a signature project of Chinese president Xi Jingping, and said India hadn’t raised any objection to the island nation being part of the massive connectivity project.
India red-flagged sovereignty concerns and the financial model of the project, which has ChinaPakistan economic corridor as its key element. Karunanayake, who is in India on a two-day visit, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and national security adviser Ajit Doval.
The minister said, “The project revives ancient shipping routes that existed for thousands of years.”
There have been discussions between the two countries on the project , the minister added and stressed that the Lankan foreign policy is “friends with all and enemies with none”. “Yes, there has been discussions on OBOR between India and Sri Lanka. We don’t want to take the decision in isolation ,” he said.
Meanwhile, the minister said popular Tamil actor Rajinikanth is welcome to visit Sri Lanka. “Rajinikanth is welcome to our country,” he said. In March, the actor decided against attending aneventin SriLankaafterfacing criticism from regional groups, including the Viduthalai Chriuthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK).
The actor for long has maintained that he wanted to visit the country to interact with Sri Lankan Tamils and participate in a charity-related project that will benefit them.
“I wanted to see the soil where Tamils shed their blood to gain self-respect and self-determination,” Rajinikanth had said .
The minister said Sri Lankan has released 42 fishing boats belonging to Tamil Nadu fishermen and discussions are on for releasing another 100.