The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Prasad Kariyawasam has assured India that it is Sri Lanka’s closest friend.
Kariyawasam’s comments come as President Rajapakse concluded a visit to China, during which several contracts, worth billions of dollars were signed.
"We are not in the habit of looking at our relations with India and China as a zero-sum game We consider India a relative and closest friend with whom we should have a very robust relationship," he said to media in Delhi.
He said that while Sri Lanka’s ties with China were “very important and very old”, the relationship was mainly based on development and that Sri Lanka has made clear that any project undertaken by any other country would not affect the strategic balance and peace and security in the region.