Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe defended comments he made stating that Indian fishermen could be shot by the Sri Lankan navy, whilst on a visit to India this weekend.
Speaking to reporters after visiting the Sreekrishna Temple, Mr Wickremesinghe was pushed on his earlier comments, where he justified the shooting of fishermen from Tamil Nadu.
“The Sri Lankan government primarily represents the interests of Sri Lankans,” said Mr Wickremesinghe.
Last week former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaratunga said Mr Wickremesinghe was only “joking” when he made the statement.
See our earlier post: Ranil was only ‘joking’ when he spoke of shooting Indian fishermen – Chandrika (17 Apr 2015)
The Sri Lankan prime minister also added that his government was “neither pro-India nor pro-China”, as he called for increasing bilateral ties between Sri Lanka and India.
He went on to tell reporters that he had planned to visit India as he “had promised to offer worship in the temple if the results in the Sri Lankan elections were favourable.”
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