President says he will not even dream of signing MCC : Aruna 

Nov 01, 2020

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa says his government will never sign the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) agreement.

According to the Aruna newspaper, the President has made these comments in a special statement to the newspaper.

The statement further states ;

"The President made this statement when Aruna questioned him regarding various claims stating that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Sri Lanka to sign the MCC agreement.

The President stated that there was no exchange of views on the MCC agreement during a meeting with the US Secretary of State.

‘‘The MCC agreement will not be signed even in dream. Some people say that if the MCC agreement is signed they will do that and this, to please the gallery . Those who say that know that we will not sign MCC. Therefore, without any fear they say that they will leave the government if the MCC agreement is signed. These are just stories to please the gallery, ”said President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in response to a query.

He also said that the discussions with the US Secretary of State were very cordial and nothing controversial had taken place. The President further stated, even though the diplomats who had previously visited Sri Lanka engaged in discussions with controversial matters and imposing conditions, US Secretary of State acted in a more cordial manner.

When American diplomats visit Sri Lanka, they first talk about human rights violations. But this time we reminded the United States of the issue of human rights. The Secretary expressed his desire to forget the matters in the past and work in harmony with the government. We pointed out that we practice a policy which protects the sovereignty of the country without being under China or any other country. I also stated that even back then I was against the sale of the Hambantota port to China. However we explained that China had been our friend for more than seventy years. We also said that we would not allow our country to be used against any other country or to be utilized as a threat to the security of other countries. India is our traditional relative. China is our friend. I had to say that we will not allow our country to be used on something that could pose a threat to India's security. "