Due to the work of the previous government, "Sri Lanka has become a country isolated from the rest of the world" - the Prime Minister explains

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe says that Sri Lanka is becoming a country isolated from the rest of the world due to certain wrongdoings.

The Prime Minister made this remark in a special statement in Parliament on June 7.

"In this regard, we need to pay close attention to our foreign relations. International support should be maximized. We are becoming a country isolated from the rest of the world due to certain wrongdoings. Reversing that situation is not easy. But we have to do it somehow. ”

He noted that India, China and Japan are among the leading lenders to Sri Lanka and that relations with these countries are currently strained.

Mr. Wickremasinghe also said that those relations need to be strengthened again.

“Some time ago, we obtained a loan from the People's Republic of China under the Swap facility. There was a condition regarding that loan. We can use that money only if our country has enough foreign reserves for three months. We did not have foreign exchange reserves for three months when the loan was obtained. At that time our relevant officials obtained a loan to deceive the country. Under that condition the loan will not be released to us. Numbers Only We have now requested the Chinese Government to consider removing that condition.

Japan is a long time friend of ours. A friendly country that has helped our country a lot. But they are not feeling well now because of the unfortunate events of the past. Our country has not even formally notified Japan of the suspension of certain projects. Sometimes no reason is given. Some Japanese projects in our country have been halted, according to individual reports. ”

Mr. Wickremasinghe said that although Japan and India had agreed to provide two LNG power plants to Sri Lanka, the CEB had halted both projects without any justifiable reason or basis.

"By 2019, Japan had agreed to provide our country with projects worth about $ 3 billion. All these projects were suspended without any reason.

I urge the Parliamentary Public Finance Committee to investigate the suspension of valuable projects given to us by friendly countries for baseless reasons.

India came forward to help us even in a background where friendly countries were alienated. We express our respect and gratitude to them during this difficult time. We are also working to re-establish old friendships with Japan.

We called on the International Monetary Fund to hold an aid conference to bring together our lending allies. Holding such a conference under the leadership of India, China and Japan is a great strength to our country. China and Japan have different lending approaches. We are confident that such a conference will lead to some agreement on lending approaches. ”

Sri Lanka will not default on loan installments and will have to borrow more in the future, he added.