Sri Lanka can be friends with anyone - Subramanian Swamy

COLOMBO (News 1st); Closest allies should be either democratic countries or dictatorships, said BJP strongman Subramanian Swamy on Wednesday (13).

India and Sri Lanka, if pitted against some other country which wants to be friends with the latter, there should no conflict, because you can be friends with both, he said adding you can even be friends with 10 countries.

"Since Sri Lanka does not threaten anybody, therefore, that problem should not be there. As a democracy, India needs to take the view that Sri Lanka is situated in a very strategic area. If tomorrow, Sri Lanka and India control the Malacca Strait with the help of the Indonesians, Sri Lanka will be a mighty power against us. Because Chinese commercial traffic to Europe comes through the Malacca Strait. And Malacca Strait is like an undeveloped Suez Canal. You can develop it to a point where you can control who goes through and who doe not," he said.

"Sri Lanka has got a raw deal from India since your new government came and it is being sought to be corrected now and I hope the correction takes to its full limit," he said.