FINANCIAL CHRONICLE – Sri Lanka was operating in a neutral stance, its president Anura Kumara Dissanayake said, appearing in parliament a day after he met Serfio Gor, a US envoy.
“Certain parties are saying that we have signed defence agreements with the US, and that’s why we delayed to entertain the Iranian vessel,” Dissanayake said.
“They are saying we are partial. We are impartial.”
“We received the request for the three Iranian vessels on February 26, to call at port on goodwill visit between March 9-13.”
“On the same day evening, the US requested permission for two of its warplanes near Djibouti to land at Mattala. There were two pieces of paper on our desk; one asked for permission for the Iranian ships to call at port between March 9-13, the other from the US asking to allow two naval warplanes to land at Mattala. What should we have done?”
“As a neutral nation we said no to both.” (Colombo/Mar20/2026)
