Sri Lanka Prez Gotabaya thanks Chinese counterpart Xi for 'continued friendship' during 'trying times'

Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa thanked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Monday for the continued friendship during trying times.

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday expressed his appreciation for China for its "continued friendship, particularly during these trying times", as he thanked his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping for wishing him on his birthday.

Rajapaksa was born on June 20, 1949.

"Thank you President Xi Jinping for the warm birthday wishes. Along with all of #lka I also want to thank #China for her continued friendship, particularly during these trying times. May the ties between our two nations grow from strength to strength," he tweeted, referring to the worst economic crisis faced by the island nation and Rajapaksa's bid to restructure debts owed to Beijing.

It is estimated that Sri Lanka owes debt payments to China in the region of USD 1.5 to 2 billion this year. China’s loans and investments in Sri Lanka were estimated to be more than USD eight billion in the last few years.

China's takeover of the Hambantota port on 99 years’ lease for USD 1.2 billion debt swap drew international concerns over Beijing acquiring strategic assets far away from home by providing heavy loans and investment to smaller nations to build unviable infrastructure projects.

Xi sent a birthday letter to Rajapaksa and underlined the spirit of the Rubber-Rice Pact "independence, self-reliance, unity & mutual support" against the current situation, the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka tweeted last week.

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