Further strengthening the economic, diplomatic and military ties with China, Sri Lanka has decided to purchase at least two Chinese modern Xian Y20 military transport aircraft.
Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in an interview with South China Morning Post has said that his government’s intention was to buy dual-use military planes that can also carry tourists.
According to the newspaper, codenamed ‘Kunpeng’ after a mythical Chinese bird, Y-20 makes China the third nation after Russia and the United States to design and develop its own heavy military transport aircraft.
“I have travelled around in some of the Chinese transport planes we have. They are good workhorses. Some people have raised questions about their quality but I have always said, ‘Look, as far as I am concerned, I will always underwrite Chinese military transport planes’. We will buy two more,” Prime Minster Wickremesinghe said.
It is not immediately know the cost of the giant aircraft, the arrival of which could earn the wrath of neighbouring India, which in the past has warned Sri Lanka over its closer military ties with China.