‘We Are Getting Hammered For Hambantota, Directly Or Indirectly’

COLOMBO: Allowing a Chinese research vessel to dock at Hambantota last month was a difficult decision, admits Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe. In an exclusive interview with StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale, he said the decision to allow the ship was taken while Gotabaya Rajapaksa was President and that his government found no grounds to reverse that decision. India had expressed its strong objection over Sri Lanka’s move to allow the ship, after which the Lankan government delayed its arrival, drawing displeasure from China. Wickremesinghe also defended his comment that Hambantota was being used as a "punching bag". Tune in for more.
#india #srilanka #hambantota #ranilwickremesinghe #china
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[@ensys1000]

What an intellect and a humble individual. Three words..."Thank You Sir".

[@pritammohanty]

both were humble, respectful, insightful... i liked the interview...

[@arweyn1]

Being humble and respectful does not mean that the Srilankans are not enemies of India. They keep sucking on India and stabbing India every time. They hold a grudge because of the IPKF operations, which India should have thought twice before executing. This guy, the so called President, is nothing but a stooge of the Rajapaksas. The real problem is that family who screwed Srilanka and ground them down. The Srilankans like to flog India for ALL their problems. Time for this stupid people to wake up and hold the right people accountable. Time to fix their own problems. Should they keep working against India, they should be taught a lesson of their life - extinction was in Darwin's theory .... stupidity needs to be punished severely. They are too big for their own shoes... blooming nincompoops..

[@ashugonda]

I liked Ranil Sir's vibe, no matter how much you are paid but handling situation like Sri Lanka still having smile and be calm that's no small feat... Shubhkamnayen/Best Wishes for Sri Lanka

[@RollerGuideX]

You know why that is? Cos none of the leaders in high position experience any hardships the economic situation has placed the rest of the population in. You want to know the real feeling, hit the streets in the country and talk to the people. Lives lost daily for lack of medicine. Malnutrition at an all time high. Health, Education and other social protective systems collapsed. And the Nero's like Ranil Wickramasinghe plays the violin. make no mistake, this president isn't appointed by the people of Sri Lanka. In fact he was appointed by a corrupt regime to sustain themselves against a massive people rebellion. This is a man rejected by the people again and a again and come elections, he will be booted out once more. For one single reason. Providing CPR for the Rajapaksa regime and corrupt brand of politics this country has been plagues with.

[@saraswathykrishnan1718]

He is a cunning fox Smile to India & bow to China

[@natchiramani]

Smile comes to a politician easily ! He is simply stretching his time ! Convincing China, India and Japan, is near impossible ! His hate for India, is too obvious, having to be reminded about over 3 billion help , saying bangladesh too helped with 200 million which was even more than India's He is haunted by his and his country's evil karma, not to mention the tight chinese noose !

[@ashugonda]

@@natchiramani Hmm you may be right, but he didnt say Bangladesh help was more than india... He said Bangladesh 200million dollar help is big for country like them(poor)...

[@gokulsarath]

Ranil is a very good statesman and India's best friend in Sri Lanka. May he be able to rescue Srilanka.

[@sanjeevathreya]

The president is a very experienced statesman and diplomat. Excellent interview with great insights from him. Sri Lanka is in good hands.

[@starrynight43451]

He is the one responsible for SL economic crisis.

[@bolder99]

Sri Lanka will be back. No doubt. Best of luck to them.

[@nabaranjanphukon1846]

Such a wonderful easy going President, salute to your egoless frank speaking.

[@yajatsen2657]

I must, say wickremsinghe is a knowledgeable person.

[@Anubhav04011986]

Very impressive interview by president Wickramasimghe👍

[@shekharsinhavicky]

Srilanka best wishes….. we care for you from India.

[@sudeeplimaye4399]

Short, crisp and candid. Thank you stratnews for such a wonderful session. President Wickremesinghe appears to have sorted out the issues and it is matter of time for results to be visible.

[@malithjayawardana3025]

Ranil wickremesinghe 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@RAJUSINGH-fe5po]

He seems very clear when he speaks

[@satpurush2592]

Enlightening conversation that happened in humility and mutual respect !

[@soumyadipjana5119]

President is very straight forward. Only black and white, no grey zone.

[@rienziesilva7640]

This President is an asset to SL .He is good in handling top level issues in a calm manner with clarity . Good Diplomat with great diplomacy same as his uncle late president JR Jayawardena . At the age of 73 , President Ranil Wichremasinghe has taken a auch a challenge. This is a time most people rest in their lives. President has made people understand that experience people can add with experience and can add value and can prolong their careers

[@paladin7422]

Excellent.Very candid and clear interview .

[@jeweltilak767]

Wonderful interview. Ranil Wickremesinghe is class

[@ashugonda]

Two Gentlemen talking gracefully and handling tough and easy question... Just music to Strategic News Level Lover....

[@repealsection230forbigtech4]

Can anyone explain to me how this interview has only received 3000 views given the importance of the influence of the man being interviewed? StratNewG is being suppressed.

[@sudeeplimaye4399]

Probably a lot of vested interests do not want this to become mainstream... Probably...

[@puggleski6097]

1. Because a 15-20 year old is interested in everything else other than geopolitics and geoeconomics. And they form the biggest chunk of the viewership. 2. This concerns India and Sri Lanka, and despite the understanding of English language rising in both these countries ( among 18-30 yr olds ), the regional focus narrows the number of views. 3. The complexity of these views expressed demands an awareness that goes beyond language. It involves empathy for our neighbours, and goals for the future. Now, I ask you this.. how many people do you meet in day to day life who have empathy for anything more than the itch on their back, or goals further than eating their next meal or reaching/getting away from office in time ?

[@gkcjakie002]

Media focuses on protests, Strikes, hate, not interested on general view

[@repealsection230forbigtech4]

@@puggleski6097 U put waaaay too much thinking into Ur response, 1stly other channels discuss d' same topic, & dont have 1st hand sources like Stratnews. Those amateur channels get very high viewCounts. 2ndly, there's a great deal of interest in Sri Lka's collapse & subsequent "apparent" b€tr@y@l of india. This is the by the male portion demographic of the demographic you mentioned. Go to any channel focussing on Indian military systems & geopolitical affairs & the viewCounts regularly reach above 300K.

[@repealsection230forbigtech4]

@@puggleski6097 I have zero doubts that our "fair weather" friends in the United States Reg1me are suppressing this channel because it focusses on an independent Indian perspective. (despite its many flaws & errors such as toeing the western false narrative on Roos - Ukrayne conflict)

[@rratedgabru5349]

A true statesman.

[@kartiksaroha1397]

Sri lanka should Focus more on building their ties with there Civilasational brothers

[@VMRDY]

Sri Lanka: No No No. We’d much rather build a useless port and airport.

[@abhaypatel4292]

@@VMRDY i guess he meant trade and security

[@kartiksaroha1397]

@@VMRDY and lease out our key port to china for 99 yrs 😂

[@kartiksaroha1397]

@@abhaypatel4292 Sarcasm !

[@namanbhayani1016]

Very Frank Discussion. Seems to be a really smart and knowledgeable person. Hope Srilanka comes out of the crisis.

[@abhilashjha747]

Amazing and insightful interview

[@Infinite77789]

Being close to Sri Lanka, they should build better relationship with India, giving Chinese Land to build military bases and power plant close to India means they are perceiving us as enemy

[@rap3208]

Except nothing of what you said happened. No land was given to China. China is not building any bases. Power plant? Power plant are always a plus. just because you indians are used to no electricity or blackouts mean that sri lanka shall too.

[@youttt27]

Unfortunately India’s soft power and poor propaganda skills means most of our neighbors see Indians as enemies despite the benign intentions of our country

[@folk2630]

@@youttt27 - You’re correct that most south-Asian countries (even Hindu-majority Nepal) sees India as a threat or enemy, but for valid reasons

[@folk2630]

Sri Lanka is valid is perceiving India as a threat after India funded the terrorist LTTE group which caused a civil war in Sri Lanka for 30 years.

[@diviner2000]

Chinese military bases in sri lanka?better to go with this interview atleast. What to do with a solar farm btw? if there's only one available investor ,sadly no other alternatives .

[@kasarlashashank]

Nitin ji you are stopping him from giving his total answer

[@ashy3640]

Sri Lanka 🇱🇰 should choose it's national interest in very long run. It may chose Chinese 🇨🇳 for a open market trade along with India 🇮🇳 for betterment for its people. But it should never give it's land as bases or plant or port or for any other purpose to any other country specially to Chinese 🇨🇳 as it directly impact it biggest neighbors security which surely may be counterproductive.

[@folk2630]

In the case of Sri Lanka and other south-Asian countries it’s beneficial to allow China to have access to our ports, or to allow China to set up military bases in our lands in order to threaten India and prevent Indian interference or Indian expansionist policies in other south-Asian countries

[@AMITKULHARI-px6qn]

This channel is doing a wonderful job, what mainstream media should be doing.

[@VimalPerera-hd8fr]

You’re handling Intervieve very well Thanks all

[@StratNewsGlobal]

Thank you too!

[@sanjeevsood531]

Why should India help Sri Lanka. There is no friendship from Sri Lankan side. Sri Lanka is a committed pro China country. No point.

[@kishorel.9411]

No matter how much you help our neighbors, they still turn to your foes . The USA and Russia example quoted by the president is not correct while comparing Shri-LANKA, India and China. India and Shri-Lanka should take an example of USA & Canada. Our land borders are so close to each other, if a war happens between India n China, ShriLanka will also affect big time. If you allow the ships from China n war happens in your vicinity , you will have a major damage. If you consider india as a brother, you will never balance out between india and China. Ties Other than military are perfectly fine but having port and then allowing so called research ship is just backstabbing your brother . Indians really consider all its neighbors very close except 2 of them and try to be cooperative. Humble request to the Shri-LANKAN people and politician to develop ties with China for only commercial purpose but not militarily.

[@jayantkamble6082]

Shri lanka's relations are only commercial, not militant at all. It is just silly Indian media trying to fear you. Sri lanka do not favour any militant intention of china. Sri Lankan relations with china are same to India's relations with USA in context of russian.

[@AMITKULHARI-px6qn]

Rajapaksha's visible hatred for India and lack of strong Indian political leader at helm, is what caused this. Also not to forget the LTTE blunder and IPKF by Indian strategic thinkers.

[@dkine5586]

Really 🤦‍♂️🤭😂

[@krishnakumarmenon5879]

Well conducted interview. Well spoken president

[@mohanprasadswaminathan4652]

Thanks to Nitin and SNG for this discussion. The thing with the Sri Lankans is, my feeling here, their wierd bussiness dealings happen in the form of aligning with other powers knowing very well the unease India feels. That too to the extent they themselves shoot themselves on the foot eagerly. This make some wonder if the antipathy towards India is recent or post-colonial or historic. This is the part India and Sri Lanka should openly analyze together and Sri Lanka do an internal soul-searching on what they are to do with India. Especially as India is not going away and is only going to grow even more powerful in the years ahead. Especially with China could not backstop Sri Lanka (and browbeat India), there is no one else left in this planet who can and be willing to do so.

[@surendrabarsode8959]

Very decent guy with clear views. Hopefully, Sri Lanka does not cross Indian red lines on security and fish in troubled waters of Sino Indian relationship. As long as it focuses on its national interest and not endanger Indian interests, India will be fine. 2. Sri Lanka is otherwise a lovely country but its politicians should manage it well. 3. Thanks Nitin for the interview. StratNewsGlobal is rising in its stature!

[@ululukululu450]

Hopefully india doesn't cross China's redlines again, in Asia... Otherwise Galwan 2 is a matter of not if but when.

[@postacaja]

@@ululukululu450 As a Sri Lankan, I have to say Galwan was a shameful incident for China. It lost respect and its super power status got questioned. Getting 40 plus PLA soldiers killed overnight by Indian Border Police is really shameful. More shameful is how they claimed only 4 dead while India said 40 died, Russia published 45, and US 35+. And this China wants us to believe it will beat the US... hahaha

[@RollerGuideX]

He hasn't sorted out anything but have helped sustain the corruption. Can he talk? Yes he can't. Ground realities are very different. Massive clam down on human rights and freedom of expression. Arbitrary arrests of people and holding them off without brining them into the judiciary system. its a long list...

[@nandishcs]

Thanks!

[@VijayKumar-eh4rf]

SL is paying the price for going away from India. With the economic downfall and political crisis in China, SL future looks bleak. India should not trust it's neighbours blindly. They are all for sale for highest bidder and loans.

[@warsil3735]

Even he was not elected president was sent home but he came because if selection🤣🤣🤣 not by election

[@Parasuram5]

India should not waste the tax we pay to help an UNGRATEFUL country

[@harimenon8822]

Wonderful and greatly humane and insightful interview,you sir are one of a kind .like Abou Ben Adam may you prosper

[@harikrishnayadav3320]

Cultural we Indians feel that Sri lankans are as much part of Indian civilization as Indians Pakistan and Bangladeshi are. Few may agree and few may disagree. But the country India is definitely bit worried about Chinese stakes in Sri Lanka.

[@damiendehorn6350]

Sorry Bangladesh is not a part of your indian civilization.

[@harikrishnayadav3320]

@@damiendehorn6350 nice joke 🤣

[@atulchandra7384]

@@damiendehorn6350 Bangladesh was part of undivided India just as Pakistan. In fact it was earlier East Pakistan and later became Bangladesh.

[@damiendehorn6350]

@@atulchandra7384 So what, now Bangladesh is a free sovereign nation, and we have nothing to do with india. Period.

[@damiendehorn6350]

@@harikrishnayadav3320 The jokes on you and your dreams, joy Bangladesh.

[@kumaravelkanapathipillai9567]

Remove the emergency law first. Rule the country with the decent law then give the interview.

[@kushanedirisuriya9051]

what a great convocation

[@237-f1b]

Do we need a huge huge cabinet?

[@VimalPerera-hd8fr]

Your. Lake House House 📓 Journalism knowolege beng well read experience with surely beneficial to our country 🇱🇰👏

[@user-gd7gh9ro7p]

Sri Lanka has not even exploited 50% of its tourism sector, people there are so soft spoken, Genuine almost everything is there beaches, jungle only thing i believe missing is crazy party street's developing that will help.

[@kalyanp5504]

This man has no real powers and will ever be a vassal of the Rajapakshes. He is under a remote control, however articulate he may sound. Without India's help, I wonder how Sri Lanka plans to recover from its body blows. Mere talk is cheap. There should be concerted action in the right direction, which at the moment is missing.

[@kanthavelkv]

Of course, you will get hammered for Hambantota, what else do you expect....

[@opencvitk]

Gentleman's president!

[@starrynight43451]

This man Wickremesinghe is the one responsible for SL economic crisis.

[@JaiAdiShankaracharya]

Very nice interview Nitin Sir. You were very patient with the honorable guest in this interview. Keep it up sir 🙏

[@deeyarshree]

Good work Nitin ji

[@Robertsmith001]

Like and share the video so it gets more views

[@rajeshrai42]

Very insightful..

[@karmennagitha]

Ranil and his party is corrupted, thats why we are here in this situation. And he new this ic coming but he didn't do anything about it.

[@kingsleyperera9655]

ඇතත් නැතත් පරලොව සුදනෙනි මහත කලොත් යෙහෙකි පව්කම් නොතබාම සිත නැතත් එපරලොව ඉන්වන අවැඩ නැත ඇතත් නැතත් පව් කළ හට වෙයි විපත - ලෝවැඩ සගරාව- Oh Srilanka ! SYMPATHIES 🇱🇰🇱🇰🇺🇸

[@krantiiwaghmare9281]

Tourism can improve if the food, accommodation & transportation inexpensive.

[@srummal]

Thank you was sweet but not is not enough President.

[@tonyraheja1]

Interesting... Thanks NG and StratNews

[@reegan007ful]

Yes you back stabber country We helped you lot but you back stabbed us

[@amuamu7610]

Nitin stop smiling ffs

[@shubhanivaswelfareassociat7917]

What is ffs?

[@maheshl2431]

Sir, your laughing along with the President looks like you are laughing at India while talking about the port.

[@toesofleg]

Give back the loan Money with interest.

[@starrynight43451]

SL cannot reject China in H'tota since SL declared bankruptcy. Because SL needs China's support in debt restructuring.

[@puggleski6097]

The pace of these reforms which means many concessions to India, coming on the heels of Chinese condescension backed by the money they've invested in SL, might end up deeply hurting an already hurt Sinhala psyche. This will be leveraged by the opposition. But to keep it under control will need the Sri Lankan security services to step up and be on guard.

[@jjayman2]

If Sri Lanka's won pundits cannot appreciate Wickremasinghe, can India handle a worldly Sri Lankan leader? Yes, Wickremasinghe should also be careful to not over play the military instrument vis-a-vis the opposition, particularly the youth. The youth should be given access to regional training and education to then work in places such as Japan with labor shortages, but later on return to Sri Lanka once Japanese firms can set up on the Island to be part of the region. But, India needs to encourage the Japanese, rather complain about China. Indians are eager to try to assume power in the region, but I wonder if they learned the lessons of the IPKF disater when the LTTE, trained initially by India, turned against the Indian army. (Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc. is a reminder that military power look great on paper, but once on the ground in a foreign country, it is hard to use, as locals will refuse occupation.) What India should do, is yield to Japan, and encourage Tokyo to set up in Sri Lanka as it did in ASEAN nations via Japanese firms. Build Colombo as a regional banking center to rival Singapore, making sure these are transparent and world class like Hatton National bank was a few years ago. Then Japanese conglomerates could operate in SAARC area and shift production away from China. That would force the Being to up the ante with legitimate business approaches, rather than the shady situation around Hambantota.

[@warsil3735]

He e took office without a plan, wh as t a shame people thought he had a plan to save Sri Lanka cc still he is m as king a to plan it🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@simhadridebnath1078]

According to wikremsenghe: Russia Ukraine conflict has created disruption in fuel market and grain exports.

[@jayantkamble6082]

Yes, it did really create the trouble.

[@64srinidhi]

Can Indian tourist use ₹ in srilanka now?

[@hasangaratnayake6283]

No you have to convert it into Sri Lankan ruppees. Its a different country you have to use their currency if you go there.

[@RollerGuideX]

Rani keep insisting his house was burnt down by the protesters. Which holds no truth at all. For weeks protests went ahead and even when the president was forced to flee, none set fire to presidents residence. When Ranil's house was set on fire, there were plenty of military and police special task force guarding it. The suspected arsonists were assisted by the on duty personnel as captured on cameras. There's no clear investigation into this with transparency. The whole thing was setup by a man who's very close to the political machinery here and he runs a private security firm. A firm that has operated well above the law of the land. So all these are political games. Ranil got the house torched so he get some sympathy from a select audience and use the whole thing to clamp down on peaceful protesters.

[@ramabhadrarajugadiraju4206]

Jaggi vasudev

[@thirupathibejjarapu2780]

L

[@ramjidharmaraj]

The old fox is still senile and cunning.

[@Jvs-eq3iy]

How can an old fox be both senile and cunning?

[@Kenkalsi]

In my view India should stop movements of goods and humans to UnGrateful Countries such as Nepal and Sri Lanka. We must not help them. India must stop visa free movement between Indo/Nepal.

[@postacaja]

Ni hao wu mao. Have you done with creating trouble between India-Nepal-Sri lanka.

[@ohboeeboee]

Ni Hao.. Chinese party internet cell...🤣🤣

[@VimalPerera-hd8fr]

Mr President With his 1 UNP member MP in our parlment you sir has so far has performed well over in my opinion under difficult conditions with a different political party to say that Least 🇱🇰🙏🤙🙌☸️✝️☪️🌈✍️🐵🦣UNP symbol our Eliphant☮️😂🦣🥲🌎

[@matrajkumar3374]

8ik. no