Colombo said no, Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake recently revealed – a decision analysts said reflected the Indian Ocean island nation’s desire to avoid being drawn into a foreign conflict from which it had “nothing to gain”.
The request, made on February 26, reportedly sought to relocate two aircraft from a US base in Djibouti to Mattala International Airport from March 4 to 8.
“They wanted to bring two warplanes armed with eight anti-ship missiles,” Dissanayake said. “We said ‘no’.”
A Sri Lankan naval vessel approaches the Iranian vessel IRIS Bushehr on March 5, a day after the Iranian military ship IRIS Dena was torpedoed off the island’s coast. Photo: Sri Lanka Navy/Reuters
Colombo also turned away three Iranian naval vessels that requested a port call from March 9 to 13, upon returning from exercises in India.