Sri Lankan High Commissioner to New Delhi, Prasaad Kariyawasam in a wide ranging interview with India’s Rajya Sabha TV said that Sri Lanka’s relationship with China should be based on the premise that the “strategic balance in the Indian ocean is not altered”.

 

“We want to make sure that it doesn’t alter strategic balances in the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean must be a zone of peace. Sri Lanka will work with India and other countries in the Indian Ocean to make that happen” he said.

He also said that China should not be viewed as a competitor by Asian nations.

 

“China is a fast growing economy and perhaps is in competition with Western economies. But we in Asia should look at China as a resource rather than a competitor. That is how we look at China- as a resource that can be exploited for the benefit of the whole of Asia. In those terms we have a very good economic relationship with China and it is so with other countries as well.”

Kariyawasam further said that both India and Sri Lanka should welcome the increase in investments by China in Sri Lanka.

 

“We are doing good business with China; they are involved in a lot of projects and a lot of investments and that is something India and Sri Lanka should welcome.”