Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Leader MP Rauff Hakeem questioned the Government’s foreign policy stance in Parliament today (06), referring to the Iranian vessels currently stranded in international waters off Sri Lanka.
Hakeem accused the Government of directing companies not to provide supplies to the Iranian vessels, and questioned the move in light of Sri Lanka’s previous position at international forums against unilateral measures.
“At the United Nations, they signed an agreement proposed by them, saying, ‘We are against these unilateral measures.’ After saying that, what are they doing here now?” Hakeem said.
He questioned whether the Government was acting in line with the position it had previously taken internationally, criticising what he described as a departure from the country’s traditional anti-imperialist stance.
“Is this how the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna-led government, which stood so strongly against imperialists, behaves? Aren’t you ashamed? Going around talking big at conventions, and then turning around and doing the complete opposite,” Hakeem said.
The Iranian vessels are currently located outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters. The Government has said it has not provided supplies or facilities to the vessels and has maintained that it did not receive any direction from the United States regarding the matter. (Newswire)