The Ministry of External Affairs played down comments made by Prime Minister Dm Jayaratne that Sri Lanka supports Vietnam in the ongoing dispute with China regarding maritime claims in the South China Sea.
Jayaratne, who was in Vietnam to celebrate the Buddhist Vesak festival, said that Sri Lanka supports Vietnam’s demand that China adhere to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and withdraw its drilling rig out of Viet Nam’s exclusive economic zone.
Sri Lanka’s Ministry of External Affairs later attempted to play down the comments, saying that the dispute needs to be settled through bilateral negotiations.
“This has been Sri Lanka’s consistent position on the said issue,” the ministry said in a statement.