{"id":13645,"date":"2012-12-13T18:44:33","date_gmt":"2012-12-13T23:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=13645"},"modified":"2012-12-13T18:44:33","modified_gmt":"2012-12-13T23:44:33","slug":"hambantota-port-is-not-part-of-a-chinese-string-of-pearls-to-surround-india-gotabhaya-rajapaksa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=13645","title":{"rendered":"Hambantota Port is not part of a Chinese “string of Pearls” to Surround India -Gotabhaya Rajapaksa"},"content":{"rendered":"

R. K. Radhakrishnan <\/strong><\/p>\n

In a spirited defence of Chinese investments, Defence and Urban Development Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said the Hambantota port is not part of a Chinese \u2018string of pearls\u2019 to surround India.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

China built the deep-water port in the southern tip of Sri Lanka, in the constituency from where President Mahinda Rajapaksa hails. Only one phase is complete and the port has not been receiving as many ships as expected. <\/p>\n

\u201cPlacing the Hambantota port within the paradigm of the \u2018string of pearls\u2019 theory is not correct\u2026From Sri Lanka\u2019s perspective, I wish to clarify that the Chinese investment in the Hambantota port is a purely economic one,\u201d said Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He added that most of the larger companies setting up operations at the Hambantota port were \u201cactually Indian\u201d.<\/p>\n

While it was not clear what prompted the clarification \u2014 he was delivering the keynote address at the third edition of a maritime security meet, the Galle Dialogue, here \u2014 he shed light on a matter over which there has been considerable Sri Lankan ambiguity. <\/p>\n

The government had long insisted that the port development project was first offered to India and when there was no reaction, they had approached China. But Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa set the record straight on this score: \u201cAs one of Sri Lanka\u2019s key development partners over the last few years, China was an obvious nation to approach. After many requests and representations at the highest level, this assistance was granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

China\u2019s alleged \u2018string of pearls\u2019 ports include Gwadar in Pakistan, Marao in Maldives, Hambantota in Sri Lanka, Chittagong in Bangladesh and Sittwe in Myanmar. Justifying the building of these ports, Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa said that from the Chinese perspective, as its economy expanded through rapid development, it was only natural that its sphere of economic influence also expanded. <\/p>\n

Hailing China as an \u201cexponent of economic cooperation\u201d which had been a \u201cgenerous and steadfast friend to many countries in this region, including Sri Lanka\u201d, he said the ports could be \u201cperceived by India\u201d as an attempt to encircle it. \u201cIt is very easy to understand this sensitivity,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Fishing troubles<\/p>\n

Just a day after Sri Lanka released about 40 Tamil Nadu fishermen, arrested for illegally crossing into its waters, Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa lashed out against the practices of such fishermen. \u201cPirate fishing across territorial waters can pose a risk to the livelihoods of fishermen, and causes tension in fishing communities and amongst coastal populations. For example, the large number of fishing boats that come to Sri Lankan waters from south India for fishing is an issue that the Indian government and the Sri Lankan government have had to contend with in recent years. The two governments have taken a number of steps to solve this problem, but more needs to be done,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Noting that the Tamil fishermen in the North and East of Sri Lanka were now rebuilding their livelihoods after decades of suppression under the LTTE, he said the fact that these fishermen had to compete with such large numbers of fishing craft illegally entering Sri Lankan waters had caused great tension and frustration among them. COURTESY:THE HINDU<\/em><\/p>\n

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R. K. Radhakrishnan In a spirited defence of Chinese investments, Defence and Urban Development Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said the Hambantota port is not part of a Chinese \u2018string of pearls\u2019 to surround India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13645"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13645"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13647,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13645\/revisions\/13647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}