Select Language:
Sri Lanka’s president announced that two US combat aircraft were denied permission to land at a civilian airport earlier this month. He told parliament that the US requested to land the planes at Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in the south from March 4 to 8. The request involved bringing in two fighter jets equipped with eight anti-ship missiles from a base in Djibouti. Sri Lanka refused, citing a desire to uphold its neutrality, a decision met with applause from lawmakers.
The request from the US had been made on February 26. On the same day, Iran asked for permission for three ships to visit Sri Lanka from March 9 to 13 after taking part in an Indian naval exercise. That request was also turned down.
Tensions escalated regionally when the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, resulting in a regional conflict that has disrupted energy supplies and unsettled global markets.
Dissanayake added that had Sri Lanka agreed to Iran’s request, it would have been compelled to approve the US’s demand as well. Earlier in March, Sri Lankan navy forces rescued 32 Iranian crew members from the IRIS Dena after it was torpedoed by a US submarine, an attack that resulted in at least 84 deaths. The navy also saved the crew of IRIS Booshehr after it experienced technical difficulties just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.
Currently, US Special Envoy Sergio Gor is visiting Sri Lanka and met with President Dissanayake on Thursday. The country continues to recover from a severe financial crisis that peaked in 2022, driven by a dollar shortage and ongoing tensions related to the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Export markets remain vital, with the US being Sri Lanka’s largest and Iran one of its top buyers of tea.
ChatGPT
Perplexity
Gemini AI
Grok AI
