By Easwaran Rutnam
The Government says it is not prepared to import low quality products for the sake of its its relationship with China.
Cabinet co-spokesman Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said that there is no shift in Sri Lanka’s relationship with China.
Responding to a question posed by the Daily Mirror at the post-cabinet press conference yesterday, Dr. Ramesh Pathirana said that Sri Lanka has a very strong relationship with Beijing.
He also noted that Sri Lanka’s foreign policy is that it is friends with all and enemies with none.
However, he said that despite the strong relationship with China, Sri Lanka is not prepared to import substandard, low quality products from China.
“We found the fertilizer that was to be imported to the county was of low quality. That is why the Government rejected that. We can clearly state our position to the Chinese Government,” he said.
He also defended the statement made by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa over the weekend with regards to the nephrology hospital constructed in Polonnaruwa with Chinese funding.
The President had said that the hospital is not the solution to the kidney disease issue in Sri Lanka.
Dr. Ramesh Pathirana agreed that building hospitals is not the solution to the health crisis.
As a result, he said that preventing the disease is far better than trying to cure it.
The Polonnaruwa hospital is the largest specialized nephrology hospital in South Asia and was built through a grant from China. (Courtesy Daily Mirror)
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