Exclusive | India is closest neighbour, has been helping us continuously in economic crisis: Sri Lanka PM Gunawardena

Sri Lanka is currently going through an economic crisis that has led to a political crisis as citizens struggle with high inflation. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, in an exclusive interview, talks about the current economic crisis, how India has been at the forefront to help the island nation in these desperate situations, and of course, the tight geostrategic spot Sri Lanka finds itself in via-a-vis China. Edited excerpts: Increasing foreign debt has put Sri Lanka in a very tight spot today when stiff geopolitical competition exists everywhere. How do you plan to navigate the country through that? Sri Lanka has always maintained a very neutral position in relation to various powers that have been working to make use of Sri Lanka’s geopolitical situation and its importance in the Indian Ocean Region. We have also taken our neighbour India as our closest friend as right through history we are culturally more attached to the people of India. But, Sri Lanka has maintained friendly relations with all countries no matter how the situation develops. Internationally we have been friends with all. In terms of support from India has it been sufficient? What else do you expect? India has always been able to support Sri Lanka and even in the present crisis that we are in. For example, India has been helping Sri Lanka to face the challenge of a very sad economic crisis as we try to come out from the pending debt payments. As Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour India has been continuously helping by extending many of the credit and loan facilities one after another and we have benefited from them. What do you expect in the coming days? We want to increase cooperation with the Indian Railways. We also need more investments from India and look forward to Indian ventures who agree to jointly work with Sri Lanka. Often economic crises lead to political crises. What sort of support are you getting from minority communities here? Do you think that you will enjoy the same kind of support in the future? I would like to mention Sri Lanka and India have the oldest democracies in the world, where people have elected governments and dismissed governments. But the relationship between India and Sri Lanka has remained [intact]. Also, every government has provided maximum support to all citizens towards their life, protection of their lives, as well as all the opportunities that are possible in economic development, and in education etc. Before the Sri Lankan constitution, all are equal and anyone can challenge any violation of their fundamental rights. So I think, there is more trust now in responding to the democratic unrest that was there in the last few months. We have restored our trust completely among the people irrespective of who they are or which ethnic community they belong to. We have been able to bring back our law and order situation which I think all our citizens had prayed for. There is tremendous trust in the government and we are working with the opposition also and political groups within the opposition which represent the country’s northeast. There is neither discrimination nor bias against anyone. Some of the other issues that have been raised by the people of the north or Tamil-speaking people or Muslim people have been addressed and we are in the process of addressing the new issues that had not been solved. In the new budget, defence has seen an increase in its allocation. Is that for internal purposes or external? It is difficult to say there is an increase in allocation because within defence a lot of other work is being done. The forces have been reducing their activities and some are going to retire while some are being trained. So the activities within the defence budget encompass other areas also [and not just military hardware]. There are talks about modernising the army as well so are you going to seek help from any of your neighbouring countries regarding that? Yeah, I think in the long run it is not only the numbers that matter, it is the high training and getting new facilities that would be necessary. We have had training available in India and many other neighbouring countries and even in Britain. And our forces have been listed by the UN and are already stationed in a couple of other countries on the international UN forces. So we have been acting as a peaceful army to contribute to the experience of the international community. In the debt restructuring talks with China what has the agreement come to? The talks are still on. I met the World Bank, ADB [Asian Development Bank] and the other funding agencies plus countries of the Paris club, India as well as China. We are in the process of discussion. It seems to be positive, we trust that it will end in a positive nature because all want Sri Lanka’s future to be a promising and developed country that will come out of the crisis. What is Sri Lanka willing to offer? Sri Lanka is open. The president has opened new investments to many areas and concessions as well as joint ventures in some other areas of the state-owned enterprises which is a new factor. Also, on economic development, we want to now relax higher education so that foreign universities can work with Sri Lanka and especially across the neighbours. I think our students are already over there and some of the universities will also be coming here. So, after a long period Sri Lanka has taken the challenge to open up so that there is more participation, more investment and investment not only related to one field but so many new fields that will come out when we plan for the next five years. Even today there was a discussion with the international funding-aid agencies very positive and we hope to move fast. As I said before, Sri Lanka is an island in the Indian Ocean thus a neighbour to India but having access to the east of Asia, west of Asia until the north of Asia so the markets are accessible from Sri Lanka to all and we should therefore make Sri Lanka the economic hub for most of the activities. Is that a hint to opening up the market for private players to come in? Private players, yes we have already announced there is a provision for it in the budget. There will be room given to many even in the restructuring of our airlines etc. These are taking place so that our economy expands and opportunities can thereby be improved. Like you pointed out Sri Lanka is very strategically placed in the Indian Ocean Region so which way would it slant? We have always maintained the history of Sri Lanka of 2,500 years and in the last 500 years, we have had relations with the western powers that have come and gone. We, like India, are celebrating its 75th year of independence next year and we hope that the strength we have stood on –– the neutral, friendly country to all –– will continue to benefit the progress of Sri Lanka. So is that a slant towards India? Not at all. Not to India or any country. India has been our closest neighbour and in every crisis, India and Sri Lanka have been able to discuss beyond the diplomatic channels, which gives trust. The author is a senior journalist. Views are personal.  Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook , Twitter and Instagram .