Sri Lanka's Pivithuru Hela Urumaya (PHU) party on Monday slammed the Indian prime minister's plans for development, accusing him of viewing the island as India's 30th state.
“Mr. Modi pledged to expand the Indian-funded ambulance service to cover the entire country and build 10,000 housing units for residents in the estate sector. What right has he to make decisions on behalf of Sri Lanka? He spoke as if Sri Lanka was the 30th state of India with President Sirisena as the Governor and Premier Wickremesinghe as the Chief Minister of that state,” PHU General Secretary Udaya Gammanpila was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying.
MP Gammanpila criticised what he described as the politicisation of the visit which was reported to have been solely for the celebration of Vesak Day.
“Mr. Modi’s speech at the festival focused rather on Indo-Sri Lanka relationships than UN or Vesak Day. The Indian Premier commented on trade, investments and technology ties between the two countries. Indirectly, he indicated that the Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) should be signed,” Mr Gammanpila added.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
