ANKARA

Sri Lanka’s president called the Indo-Pacific zone an “artificial framework” and said the AUKUS trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK and the US is a military alliance against China.

Speaking on Monday at an event at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Ranil Wickremesinghe said his country will not become part of any alliance against others.

"AUKUS is a military alliance against one country -- China," he said.

On Sept. 15, 2021, the three nations announced the formation of AUKUS, a trilateral partnership to bolster their allied deterrence and defense capabilities in the Indo-Pacific region. It is primarily aimed at deterring China, which is becoming more assertive in the region.

Wickremesinghe also called the security treaty a "mistake" and said it was not needed.

Responding to the term “Indo-Pacifc” used by Western countries and their allies, he called it an "artificial framework.”

“Nobody knows what’s Indo-Pacific,” he said.

“For some people, the Indo-Pacific ends on the western boundary of India. Others take it into Africa, and some end up with Western Pacific. Others go to South Pacific.”

Wickremesinghe added that Sri Lanka will maintain good relations with all countries.

​​​​​​​*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid