Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Dr. Karunasena Kodituwakku has refuted allegations that China asked for special security arrangements at the Hambantota Port.

The Sri Lankan Ambassador told a journalist who questioned him on the sidelines of an event held to commemorate Sri Lanka’s Independence Day at the embassy in China, that neither the Government of China nor the respective investor had made a request to make their own security arrangements.

The journalist, citing two other China-invested ports in the region, had asked if Chinese investors had requested special security arrangements for their investment in Hambantota.

Dr. Kodituwakku had responded that while he unable to comment on the arrangements made with other countries, as far as he was aware, neither the Government of China nor the respective investor had made such a request.

He said further, that security arrangements provided to foreign investors in Sri Lanka is a matter for relevant Sri Lankan agencies - he said this was the standard applied to all foreign investment, irrespective of country, and that therefore, the issue of permission for country-specific security arrangement did not arise.