The External Affairs Ministry says a request for a visa by a Delhi based US journalist has been put on hold as the time is not conducive to approve his visit.South Asia Correspondent for The New York Times, Gardiner Harris, had tweeted saying he had applied for a Journalist visa in June to visit Sri Lanka but he is yet to be granted the same. When The Sunday Leader made inquiries in this regard, a spokesperson at the External Affairs Ministry confirmed that a request had been received from Gardiner Harris to visit Sri Lanka to report on some local incidents including incidents related to Aluthgama.
He also said the Sri Lankan High Commission in India had been advised to put the visa request on hold. The government is currently preparing for the visits of the President of China and the Prime Minister of Japan, both of which have been scheduled for next month. The External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said it was the opinion of the ministry that allowing foreign journalists to visit Sri Lanka to report against the country at this particular time cannot be allowed.
This only proves that government has not acted correctly in Aluthgama incident and have acted against the Muslims in Sri Lanka.
However, he stressed that the visa had not been rejected, and the ministry will reconsider the request at a later date.