Seen as close to Beijing, Rajapaksa has appointed several members of his family to top cabinet positions since his party won a commanding majority in August's parliamentary elections - including his brother Mahinda, who previously also served as president. On Friday, Rajapaksa rejected accusations that China wanted to trap Sri Lanka into mounting debt with the port deal. "Many geo-political analysis interprets this project as a 'debt trap' set up by China to gain control over Sri Lankan affairs," Rajapaksa told the Chinese delegation, led by Yang Jiechi, China's top diplomat. The Chinese visit comes as Sri Lanka faces mounting worries over the state of its finances, with rating agencies warning that a coronavirus-induced shock will significantly weaken its "already fragile funding and external positions". Rajapaksa said on Friday that the country's trade deficit with China is too high and called on Beijing to increase the volume of goods purchased from Sri Lanka to bring it down.

Source: bd News24 October 09, 2020 16:07 UTC