Opposition claims ETCA payback to India for helping defeat MR

28 Jun, 2016

The joint opposition today claimed that the proposed?Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA)?with India is Sri Lanka’s way of saying thank you to India for helping the current Government to defeat former President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the last Presidential election.

Former Foreign Minister, professor G.L Peiris said that the decision to sign the ETCA agreement is not for economic reasons but rather political reasons.

“This is a way to pay off a debt,”?Peiris?claimed at a press conference today.

He alleged the Government is looking to mislead the public by claiming that it is going to sign ETCA to reduce the impact caused to Sri Lanka from Britain withdrawing from the EU.

The former Parliamentarian alleged that there needs to be an open discussion on the proposed deal with India before signing it.

He says the ETCA agreement is not transparent and the public have been kept in the dark about its proposed contents. (Colombo Gazette)

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