Sri Lanka will sign ETCA with India by mid-2016, says PM Wickremesinghe

Colombo: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday said that his government will sign the proposed Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) with India by the middle of this year notwithstanding opposition from political parties and trade unions.

Speaking in Parliament, Wickremesinghe said an Indian delegation is due to visit the country early next month to finalise the draft agreement and "the government will go ahead signing it despite opposition coming from opposition political parties, trade unions and professional groups."

Stating that it was a misconception that the country would be flooded with Indian workers, he said, "What we are trying to sign will be better than the CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement). CEPA was to include services.

"We did not accept that. So the Indians coming here and threatening our jobs is not true. There will be more job opportunities for Sri Lankans."

Wickremesinghe, who had earlier branded as "traitors" those opposed to the deal, said, "We have not got a document just yet. This will not be done in secrecy."

Sri Lanka's opposition has criticised the proposed trade deal with India as an attempt to "foreignise" the country's economy and demanded that the shortcomings in the existing FTA should be sorted out before concluding the deal.

It said the agreement would be advantageous to India and inimical to Sri Lankan economic interests. The opposition demands that the agreement include goods, trade in services and investment.

In recent weeks the doctors' trade union and several other employees' organisations have taken to the streets to protest the ETCA with India.