(UTV | BEIJING) – Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China, Palitha Kohona dismissed suggestions that Sri Lanka was planning to extend the 99-year lease it granted Beijing to run the Hambantota Port.
He said in an interview with the South China Morning Post that Sri Lanka would “Never be an unsinkable aircraft carrier posing a threat to anyone else”, referring to China’s ongoing power struggle with India and the United States (US).
Hambantota’s location at the Southern tip of Sri Lanka, overlooking South Asia’s vital sea lanes, makes it a potential key maritime hub in the Indian Ocean. Colombo agreed to hand over the running of the port in 2017 when it was unable to make the repayments on the Chinese loans used to develop it.
Kohona was responding to a question about reports that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was revisiting the deal with China. Beijing also denied the deal was being reviewed, with Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbing saying the port’s operations were expanding.
He also dismissed suggestions that Sri Lanka was falling into a debt trap.