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Sri Lanka will not allow military base for China; port city project given green light
http://atimes.com/2016/03/sri-lanka-will-not-allow-military-base-for-china-port-city-project-given-green-light/Sri Lanka will not allow military base for China; port city project given green light
By Munza Mushtaq on March 18, 2016
COLOMBO–The six-month-old Sri Lankan coalition government has declared that it will under no circumstance permit a Chinese military base to be constructed in the country.
The assurance came amid concerns from India thflagsat China is looking at constructing a military base in the island nation due to its strategic location.
“There is absolutely no such thing and we assure that we will never permit anything like that in Sri Lanka,” Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva told Asia Times.
His comments came just days after Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe-led government gave the green light to resume construction on the $1.5 billion China-funded Colombo Port City project which was suspended a year back over environmental issues and on grounds that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa had not followed proper procedure while signing the deal with China.
