Sri Lanka’s president Ranil Wickrememsinghe said the island “can never return Aragalaya,” as he opened a new Indian-funded hotel at the site of the previous anti-government protests in Colombo.

“Two years ago this was the site of a huge struggle,” said Wickremesinghe. “Today we have a huge hotel in its place”.

Seated in the front row was former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced to flee the island as anti-government protests rocked the capital in 2022. Other senior political figures, including another former president Chandrika Kumaratunga was also present. Both stand accused of war crimes.

“His office was ransacked and occupied,” Wickremasinghe told the audience while gesturing to Rajapaksa. “This entire place was surrounded, today in its place, we have a huge hotel.”

“This country cannot always depend on imports,” he continued “We should focus on exports, and this hotel is one of those key objectives. This is the biggest hotel to be built by ITC outside of India.”
“We have a hotel here and can never return to the Aragalaya.”

The luxurious hotel, located near the Galle Face Green, marks the first venture outside India by the ITC Hotel Group, following their establishment of a 10,000-room hotel chain in India. It comes as Indian involvement on the island continues to grow, with a range of government backed and privately funded ventures.