Sri Lankan Minister says talks on the airport joint venture are ‘progressing’
Days after Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told Parliament that there was no proposal for the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to acquire a controlling stake in Sri Lanka’s Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport, a Sri Lankan Minister said talks on the project are “progressing” with India. Mr. Sinha’s remarks last week came at a time when three rounds of official negotiations were completed on a likely joint venture between the AAI and the Airport & Aviation Services in Sri Lanka, to run the loss-making Mattala airport, located in Sri Lanka’s Southern Province
Queried by the local media on the development, Transport and Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said the discussions on the development project of Mattala Airport are still under way. “Most probably, the Indian Minister of State for Civil Aviation would have made such a statement to the Indian Parliament since the agreement between two parties is yet to be finalised,” he said, according to a report published in the State-run Daily Newson Friday.
Source : https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/mattala-project-with-india-is-on/article24597760.ece (GS II bilateral relations )