Sri Lanka Refused To Bow To US Demands On Iranian Vessels Showing It Has A Mind Of Its Own – OpEd |
A US request to allow its warplanes to land in Mattala airport as well a request not to repatriate an Iranian vessel and naval personnel to Iran, were rejected.
Sri Lanka has refused to bow to America’s demands on Iranian vessels and their crew now sheltered in the island. Showing that it has a mind of its own, the small island nation refused to allow US war planes to land at the Mattala airport in South Sri Lanka on March 4 and 8. Colombo also rejected a US demand that the Iranian ship IRS Bushehr and the crew in its care should not be repatriated to Iran. Sri Lanka has told the US that it plans to repatriate them to Iran, but only after the US-Iran conflict ends.
Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told parliament on Friday, that the request for landing had been made for March 4 and 8. But both requests were rejected, he added. Dissanayake said that two US warplanes were from Djibouti in North East Africa. “We want to maintain our neutrality despite many pressures. We won’t give in. The Middle East war poses challenges to us, but we will do everything possible to remain neutral. They (the US) wanted to bring in two warplanes armed with eight anti-ship missiles from their base in Djibouti to the Mattala International Airport and we said no,” the Sri Lankan President said.
Meeting With Sergio Gor
Dissanayake’s statement came a day after his meeting with the US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor. Gor and Dissanayake discussed US efforts to safeguard vital sea lanes and ports, reinforce mutually beneficial trade and commercial ties, and advance a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific, a US State Department statement said.
On March 4, the US had torpedoed the Iranian Corvette IRIS Dena 19 nautical miles off Galle, the island’s southern coastal town, killing 84 sailors while 32 were rescued. The ship was returning home from Visakhapatnam in India after a naval fleet review exercise. Two days later, a second Iranian vessel, Iris Bushehr, sought entry to Colombo port with 219 sailors. Sri Lanka asked the vessel to be diverted to the eastern port of Trincomalee from its anchor outside the Colombo port. A total of 204 of the sailors are now accommodated at the Naval facility near Colombo.
Request on Repatriation Rejected
The United States had pressed Sri Lanka not to repatriate to Iran,........