Iran war: Lanka balancing neutrality View(s):Not long ago, US President Donald Trump ambushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House during a meeting and asked him, for the whole world to hear, “Are you trying to start World War Three?” That was while canvassing for the Nobel Peace Prize. Sri Lanka kept studiously away from signing the resolution displaying its strict neutrality after the criticism it faced over the Iranian warship incident that had a trace of partisanship. Sri Lanka has consistently maintained that it does not host foreign military bases and that Hambantota is a commercial port. To lump Hambantota along with the military bases in the Indian Ocean betrayed New Delhi’s view on Sri Lanka’s neutrality. This same Indian minister went unchallenged before when he made some adverse comments about the Kachchativu islet being within Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

Source: Sunday Times March 15, 2026 07:03 UTC