Harin responds saying his comments taken out of context

After coming under fire for the controversial remarks made at ITB, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando attempted to clear the air in this regard last evening.

Fernando took to Twitter to respond to the comments that followed a video clip of the press briefing, stating his statement was “taken out of context”.

According to Fernando, his statement has been “misrepresented on social media”. “I wish to clarify that we work together with our neighbour on tourism and would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused,” added Fernando.

Almost immediately after Fernando’s update, Foreign Minister Ali Sabry retweeted Tourism Minister’s comments. “Sri Lanka and the Maldives are friends and neighbours. We are working together to promote tourism to the region,” said Sabry.