3 October 2016 04:32 pm
General Secretary and MP Udaya Gammanpila said the tilt towards India in the statement issued by the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Friday was a grave diplomatic error committed by the country to hurt Pakistan.
“Sri Lanka already knew that the Summit will not be held after India had pulled out. Therefore, there was no need to issue a statement just before the Pakistan government announced the postponing of the Summit,” he told a news conference and claimed that India had pressed Bhutan and Bangladesh as well to boycott the Summit.
The MP said Foreign Affairs Minister Mangala Samaraweera had discussed the matter with the Prime Minister and issued Friday’s statement after giving into Indian pressure. “It is rumoured that the President was not aware about the statement,” he said.
He said India sabotaged the SAARC Summit in Sri Lanka in 1991 by boycotting it but Pakistan's Prime Minister expressed his solidarity by attending the summit as scheduled.
He said Sri Lanka played the role of peace negotiator during the Indo-Pakistan war in 1971 because Sri Lanka was the only country accepted by both India and Pakistan.
“Former Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike was the peace negotiator back then. But, today Sri Lanka has lost the opportunity to play the role of negotiator when the two countries are on the threshold of an armed conflict,” the MP said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)
Video by Buddhi