NEW DELHI: The strategic Hambantota port will not be used as a military base and Sri Lanka will not engage in any activities in its harbours and waters which may harm India’s security interests, a top defence official from the island nation today said.
In December last, Sri Lanka had handed over the control of the southern sea port of Hambantota to China on a 99-year lease, triggering concern here over Beijing’s efforts to expand influence in the region.
In an address at a conference here, Sri Lanka’s Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Ravindra C Wijegunaratne also invited Indian companies to invest in the industrial areas of the Hambantota port.
“There had been this widespread claim about the port being earmarked to be used as a military base. I can assure you madam (Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman) in this forum, that no action, whatsoever will be taken in our harbour or in our waters that jeopardises India’s security concerns,” he said. (AGENCIES)
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