The controversy surrounding the detention of the Aeroflot aircraft at the Bandaranaike International Airport has dented relations between Sri Lanka and the Russian Federation.Links between the two countries go back to 1956.
According to records Russia extended her goodwill to Sri Lanka during the armed conflict between the Sri Lankan armed forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). It provided logistics support and training on battlefield strategies to the Sri Lankan armed forces.
Russia, one of the most influential countries in the world, rescued Sri Lanka from the clutches of the United Nations many times by thwarting resolutions which were brought by western nations for war crimes accountability.
The most conspicuous was during the final stages of the war in 2009 when European countries, coupled with Canada and Mexico, brought a ceasefire bill against the Sri Lanka army. However, China and Russia vetoed the bill out of strategic interests.
Later on, another war crimes bill tabled by western nations against the Government of Sri Lanka did not see the light of day under the aegis of Russia and China.
In reciprocation, Sri Lanka responded in favourof Russia during the Ukrainian crisis and said the concerns of Russia were justifiable.
The stand taken by Sri Lanka was somewhat similar to India, but Sri Lanka never exceeded limits due to pressure from the United States.
Besides, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe underscored the importance of strengthening relations with friendly nations which stood steadfastly by Sri Lanka in the past.
In a lengthy discourse he brought out a myriad of foreign policy and other economic issues concerning Sri Lanka.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe lamented in Parliament how Sri Lanka mishandled relations with donors with callous disregard for their interests as far as those countries are concerned. The Aeroflot fiasco is one such occasion.
Wickremasinghe told Parliament that straining relations with tried and trusted friends in the international arena will not take us anywhere.
“India, China and Japan are leading the list of countries that provide us with loans, aid and assistance”. The Prime Minister was disturbed about the way in which Sri Lanka hadreciprocated.
Wickremesinghe pointed out that Sri Lanka should tread cautiously and rebuild and restore the strong relations she enjoyed with these countries.
The Prime Minister said that Japan is known to be a longstanding friend of Sri Lanka. “Japan is a nation which has helped our country greatlybut are now unhappy with us due to the unfortunate events of the past’.
The Prime Minister underlined Sri Lanka’s failure to inform Japan of the decision to suspend several projects. He said there had been times when the authorities failed to give reasons for the suspension.
According to reports submitted by an individual, several projects undertaken by Japan in our country have come to a grinding halt midway.”
“Japan and India had agreed to supply us with two LNG power plants. The CEB (Ceylon Electricity Board) stopped those two projects without justification. Japan had agreed to provide about US$ 3 billion worth of projects by 2019. All of these projects reportedly ended up on the backburner.
“I urge the Parliamentary Committee on Public Finance to initiate inquiries into the suspension of such valuable projects granted to us by our longtime allies for unstated reasons,” the Prime Minister said.
Prime Minister Wickremesinghe wants Sri Lankans to view foreign investors and donor countries differently.
He praised India for stepping in to help surmount a crisis despite the alienation. “India offered to help us in the face of the growing crisis. We express our respect and gratitude to them during this difficult time. We are also working to re-establish old friendships with Japan.”
The Aeroflot fiasco was hovering closer to a diplomatic fall-out between Russia and Sri Lanka for the callousness shown by Colombo with the conclusion that it was a matter between two private parties.
Russian action to summon the Sri Lankan ambassador in Moscow to register their strong protest in that context is appropriate and justifiable since Russia was facing war crime charges initiated by the West over the Ukraine humanitarian crisis.
The government failed to present documents it had in support of Aeroflot but took a paradoxical stand on the need to maintain cordial relations with a friendly country.
The government did not take the initiative to inform the Commercial High Court that there was a written agreement between Sri Lanka and Russia on the operation of aircraft by Aeroflot and that its registration and insurance were in order.
The callousness of the Colombo government angered Russia which moved immediately to suspend all commercial flights between the two countries.
The stand taken by the Sri Lankan government was appalling even after the Russian Foreign Office summoned the Sri Lankan Ambassador and warned that bilateral ties would be in jeopardy unless Colombo stepped into to release the Aeroflot flight detained at the BIA. Eventually, it was on the instructions of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister that the Attorney General intervened in court to have the injunction dissolved. The coordination which is necessary to deal with sensitive international cases and the lack of it between the Attorney General and the government is a matter of concern.
The Aeroflot aircraft was finally released, but the bitterness following the incident still lingers in the minds of the Russians. They account for 17 per cent of tea exports from Sri Lanka. Thirty percent of the tea available in the Russian market is of Sri Lankan origin. The tourist arrivals from Russia are also noteworthy for Sri Lanka with over 58,000 arrivals recorded in 2018.
In these circumstances it is interesting to note the extracts of the observations made by the Colombo Commercial High Court Judge dissolving the enjoining order on the Russian Aeroflot airline.
The extracts of the order are as follows.
‘The manner of service of enjoining orders brought the first defendant into this court contrary to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code. It is rather unfortunate to observe that the junior counsel of the plaintiff has misused and abused the judicial power of this court. This type of unethical means for achieving the plaintiff’s goals pollutes the pure stream of justice. Hence the post conduct and dealings of the junior counsel of the Plaintiff as aforesaid after issuing the enjoining orders from this court clearly and unequivocally point in the direction that the junior counsel the Plaintiff gravely misused and abused the judicial power of this court.
Against this backdrop, the Foreign Ministry headed by Minister G.L Peiris has an arduous task ahead of it to mend fences with Russia and go side by side with India to foster relations with Russia in a somewhat complicated global political climate.
The other two significant events that shook the Sri Lankan political landscape is the resignationfrom parliament of former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa.
Many, including Wimal Weerawansa and UdayaGammanpila, had vowed to see him out of parliament and called him by the nickname “ugly American”. However, it is incomprehensible how Basil Rajapaksa made this decision. Is it to shirk his responsibility for the economic misfortunes he brought in with other accomplices, or does he actually feel embarrassed to wait until the 21st amendment comes into force and he automatically loses his parliamentary seat? During a press conference to announce his resignation he said he was quitting because the litigation against him had concluded and he was not the finance minister anymore.
At present the chances that the 21st amendment will see the light of day is remote. If that is the case, the underlying cause for his resignation is anyone’s guess.
The indications are that he will embark on a new political project to make a dramatic comeback with a grand multi-party alliance.
The other school of thought is that while steering clear of any political involvement he will manoeuvre state affairs from outside,similar to that of Ayatullah Khomeini. Holding on to the national organiser position of the Sri Lanka Podujana Party will allow him to meddle with state affairs.
His non-political role will be the bugbear of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the government at large.
The other significant event of the week is the announcement of Dhammika Perera to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Basil Rajapaksa.
Dhammika Perera is a business tycoon and one of the richest in Asia with a net worth of nearly US$ 4.56 billion. He has many business interests in the country and has diversified them. He functioned as the Board of Investment (BoI) chairman under the Presidency of Mahinda Rajapksa and later became the Secretary to the Ministry of Transport.
In 2019 he held discussions with UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe with the aim of becoming the party’s presidential candidate. Perera is an ambitious man but it is difficult gauge whether he is politically savvy and armed with an ideology that suits Sri Lankan political atmosphere.
According to insider information, a powerful ministerial portfolio awaits Perera, his ultimate determination being to contest the next Presidency
