Amid growing controversy, Minister Vijitha Herath has attempted to downplay concerns over a recently signed agreement with India, claiming it was not a “security pact” but rather a “security cooperation agreement.”
Speaking during a program on Sirasa Channel, the minister admitted that the deal was signed on a Saturday, just days before Parliament convened on Tuesday, and insisted there simply “wasn’t enough time” to present it to lawmakers.
With criticism mounting over the lack of transparency, Herath maintained that the agreement would be tabled publicly “at the appropriate time”, but only after receiving Cabinet approval. In the meantime, he noted, citizens could access the document through the Right to Information Act if they wished.
As speculation swirls around the deal’s implications for national sovereignty, the government’s failure to disclose it in Parliament has drawn sharp reactions raising fresh questions about who knew what, and when.
