GOTABAYA HAS GIVEN REASSURING SIGNALS TO INDIA
NEW DELHI HAS TO MOVE FAST TO ASSIST SRI LANKAN ECONOMY
2019-12-02 10:56
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Perhaps the most significant of Sri Lanka’s new president Gotayaba Rajapaksa’s New Delhi visit was that as a man who has never concealed his Sinophilia, he made New Delhi, rather than Beijing, to be his first port of call. On assuming presidency, he made his elder brother Mahinda, the former president, his prime minister. That tightened the grip of the Rajapaksa family on Sri Lanka’s government and politics. Both brothers are known for their proximity to China and antipathy to India. Gotabaya himself, even before he was elected, assured Beijing that it would be his topmost priority to forge closer relations with China.