BEIJING:  , Chinese leader Xi Jinping said relations between China and Sri Lanka faced a “historical opportunity” to foster ties, in talks with the island nation’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Wednesday ( Jan 15 ).
During the diplomatic conference in Beijing, Xi told Dissanayake,” China-Sri Lanka relationships face a historic opportunity to build on the history and build ahead,” according to state broadcaster Video.
The two countries should examine ties from” a proper perspective and create a China-Sri Lanka neighborhood with a shared future” between them.
President Narendra Modi welcomed the communist Dissanayake to India during his first overseas vacation as top in December, and he is now on his way there.
After his group won a landslide in November’s lock parliamentary elections, Dissanayake assumed control of the party in September, consolidating it.
China and India are currently vying for dominance in the Indian Ocean.
Sri Lanka sits astride the nation’s busiest delivery road, which links the Middle East and East Asia, giving its nautical property strategic value.
However, during a crisis that led to decades of food, gas, and medical shortages, Sri Lanka defaulted on its international loans in 2022.
At the time of the financial crash, China accounted for more than half of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic loan.