Government will not allow country to get involved in USA, China cold war – Minister Amaraweera | Daily News

Government will not allow country to get involved in USA, China cold war – Minister Amaraweera

The Government will not allow the country to get involved in the cold war between the USA and China. It is an honour for us that the USA State Secretary Mike Pompeo visited Sri Lanka. Environment Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said.

Minister Mahinda Amaraweera said that despite various allegations by some factions over US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Sri Lanka, there was no hidden agenda behind the US Secretary of State's visit to Sri Lanka and that he arrived in Sri Lanka at the invitation of External Affairs Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

He was speaking at a media briefing yesterday morning.The Minister said that some had said that the Cabinet had not been informed about the US Secretary of State's visit to Sri Lanka.

That is completely wrong. The Cabinet was briefed on the visit of Mike Pompeo during the Cabinet meeting held last Monday. He said that his visit to Sri Lanka was aimed at strengthening the friendship and bilateral relationship between the two countries.

The Minister said that it is no secret that there is a cold war between China and the United States. But at present China is the world's economic powerhouse. Even the United States has borrowed close to $ 2 trillion from China. “The US Secretary of State's visit is very important. Mike Pompeo is the third most powerful person in the United States. Even the previous government tried to bring people like him to our country,” the Minister said.

“There was a discussion for a few minutes. There is no secrecy in those discussions. They spoke openly. Even during that discussion the President mentioned China's support to us. We have no choice or anger the any other countries,” the Minister said. “The President appointed a committee to study the MCC agreement. Further steps will be taken as per the recommendations of the committee. I'm not talking about that a decision should be taken by the Government after discussions in the Cabinet and informing after the Parliament,” the Minister said.

“The 20th Amendment gave the President a several powers. He can now work in a wide range. It is not possible to appoint at least one IGP under this Hovernment under the 19th Amendment. Although there was an Executive President, three people were given power to govern the country. The President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker created a huge mess in governing the country. Therefore, I think, now that all those issues have been resolved, the President can do a lot of work,” the Minister said.

“But the COVID-19 menace will lead to a massive collapse of the country's economy and the Government has to face a huge economic burden in the future,” the Minister said.