No country will be allowed to use Sri Lankan territory against another: Cabinet spokesperson

A view of damaged windows and structures following cross-border shelling by Pakistan in the wake of ‘Operation Sindoor’, in Poonch on May 8, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI

COLOMBO

Sri Lanka on Thursday said no country will be allowed to use its territory against another and reaffirmed its non-alligned foreign policy.

Addressing the weekly media briefing, Cabinet spokesperson Nalinda Jayatissa, when queried on the government’s position on the rising India-Pakistan tensions, said Sri Lanka will stay out of Indian Ocean geopolitical conflicts.

“Our territorial land, waters, and airspace will not be used by one country against another. We remain firm on this position and have communicated it clearly in the past. Our involvement is aimed at de-escalating tensions, safeguarding regional peace, and preventing terrorism,” he added.

Further, Sri Lanka maintains good diplomatic ties with the two countries, and both India and Pakistan have helped Sri Lanka “from time to time”, Mr. Jayatissa said. “We will follow a non-aligned stance while maintaining our sovereignty,” he said.

Following the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake posted on social media platform X that he was “deeply shocked by the terrorist attack in Pahalgam that claimed 26 innocent lives. Just spoke with PM @narendramodi to convey Sri Lanka’s solidarity & our shared commitment against terrorism. Our hearts go out to the victims’ families. We stand with India in these difficult times”.

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South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), a regional network of human rights defenders, has demanded that the governments of India and Pakistan immediately de-escalate “the current war situation”. Issuing a statement on Thursday (May 8, 2025), it warned that “failing to do so will irrevocably affect people of both countries as well as the people of South Asia”.

The rights body said it “vehemently condemned” India’s Operation Sindoor military strikes across nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir early on Wednesday (May 7, 2025) and observed that Pakistan’s retaliation was “further escalating this situation”.

While many governments and political leaders in the region were quick to condemn the gruesome terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, 2025, that claimed 26 lives, they have not explicitly commented on the escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan so far.

Reiterating the need for “a credible and transparent investigation” into the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, led by the United Nations, SAHR observed that the people of India, Pakistan as well as the region must avoid “any means of war mongering”. “Ultimately the two governments are accountable for all the intentional destruction and loss of life, and therefore must strive to maintain an effective, and meaningful dialogue and diplomacy to address related issues and concerns,” it further noted.

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Urging the two parties to refrain from “toxic weaponisation of religion”, the regional network of rights activists expressed solidarity with the “fundamental rights of the people of Kashmir and their long years of struggle”.

“Peace is essential to South Asians, especially now. There are numerous human rights and humanitarian issues that people of India and Pakistan and the entire region are facing which have compelled them to survive with the bare minimum provisions and capacity sans upgrading their life to a dignified standard.”