Sri Lanka wants to be to India what Hong Kong is to China - Ravi

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ravi Karunanayake said that Western nations like the US and UK which suffered from recent bouts of terrorism were now realizing what Sri Lanka went through then, during the civil war.

The Minister stated this in an exclusive interview with World Is One News (WION) during his visit to India, when the interviewer made an inquiry into the human rights violations allegedly made by the Sri Lankan armed forces during the civil war. Accordingly, he added that he was certain the nations of the UK and US would help Sri Lanka move forward.

 When asked to specify if he was ruling out the involvement of foreign personnel in the investigations into the alleged human rights violations, the Minister stated that he was only a small nut in the machinery, but that his President and Prime Minister had very categorically stood against it, and also added that the Government would not compromise the sovereignty of Sri Lanka at any cost.

Addressing Indo-Sri Lankan relations, Minister Karunanayake said that India was Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour who had been a time-tested friend. He stated that his predecessor, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera, had done an excellent job in maintaining the strong ties with India that were inherited from the previous regime, and that it was now his duty to ensure that they were taken to greater heights.

We would like Sri Lanka to be to India what Hong Kong is to China - one and the same, he said.

The Minister also mentioned that the implementation of the new constitution, the prevailing-multi religious and multi-racial diversity, and the subsequent speeding up the reconciliation process were the main matters of intricacy that he hoped New Delhi would assist Sri Lanka with.

In response to an inquiry made about the fear among Sri Lankans that Indians were going to overwhelm the tiny island, he simply stated that if we continued to merely stress about India or China invading us, Sri Lanka would have no future.

We have opened ourselves to the world economically under the pro-growth approach, he elaborated.

He proceeded to say that that the current situation of a President representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and a Prime Minister representing the United Nations Party (UNP) both working together was a “golden opportunity” for the progress of Sri Lanka.

When the interviewer brought up the question of giving 80 percent stakes in the Hambantota Port to China, the Minister countered the question with the question: ”Hambantota Port was first offered to India, so why didn’t India take it?”

 Now that we have already built the Hambantota port, we may as well make the best of it economically, he proceeded to say.

When the host of the interview ventured into the subject of Ravi Karunanayake’s shift from financial affairs to foreign affairs following the cabinet reshuffle, the Minister affirmed that he sensed a synergy between global politics and the economy, and added that foreign affairs was actually an extension of financial affairs, where he would now have to do internationally, what he did domestically during his tenure as the Minister of Finance.

When asked if he was confident that he was the right man for the portfolio of Foreign Minister, he responded by stating that only time could tell, but also added that his leaders believed he possessed the required abilities to succeed as the Foreign Minister, just as he did during his tenure as the Finance Minister.

Elaborating upon his future as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he revealed that he would first look at the South-Asian region following his visit to India, after which he would shift his attention towards the US, and then towards the European Union, ultimately joining hands with all the nations to take Sri Lanka forward.