Deal with US will benefit Lanka - Leader of the House

Uditha Kumarasinghe and Irangika Range

KOTTE: The proposed ‘Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement’ (ACSA) with the US will benefit Sri Lanka, Leader of the House and Health Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva told Parliament yesterday.

“Although attempts are being made to portray this as a security agreement, it is not so. We had discussions. We have not hidden this and it is on the Defence Ministry’s website.

I am tabling this whole agreement now, because there is nothing to hide. Similar agreements have been signed with India which is a regional power. Some parties have no understanding about this agreement,” Minister de Silva said.

He explained that around 80 countries have signed this agreement. “You are trying to destroy national security. Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe is purposely trying to do this. According to this agreement, on certain instances it is necessory to provide facilities for their aircraft and vessels.”

He said the Government implemented a major programme to defeat terrorism while taking several measures to lead the country towards prosperity.

“We are always committed to safeguarding territorial dignity. We have not done anything to destroy the country’s security. We have the people’s trust.”

If we provide facilities, they have to pay us and for the exchange of goods.

“India, USA and Pakistan fully support us to solve this conflict. We have gained the trust of the international community. We may not agree with them on several matters. We can’t defeat terrorism only with weapons.

We need new technology too.” The Minister said all these details cannot be divulged due to security reasons. “All related facts are available on the website. We will benefit a lot through this. The US will give better training and new technology.”

He questioned whether the Government would sign such an agreement without any discussions. “We are not fools to do it like that. This agreement is a logistics agreement.”