What was brewing in President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s mind when he said that both India and Sri Lanka are two sides of the same coin? Maybe what he insinuated is that Sri Lanka has no better ally than India in the long term.
The President added that both countries must commit themselves to further strengthening their relationships. At the handing over ceremony of a Dornier aircraft by the Indian government for maritime security and surveillance in and around the Sri Lankan coast, President Wickremesinghe underlined the need to foster unceasing bilateral relations with India.
It is significant for Sri Lanka that India handed over the Dornier aircraft to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Indian independence and on the eve of the arrival of the controversial Chinese vessel Yuan Wang 5 at the southern Hambantota port.
The presence of President Wickremesinghe at the ceremony signified that Sri Lanka was always moving along with India in the global theatre. In contrast, the government’s welcome party for the Yuan Wang 5 was a incongruous mix comprising Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Sarath Weerasekera, Wimala Weerawansa and the Buddhist monk Athuraliye Rathana. According to some political analysts, Wickremesinghe’s endorsement of India’s role as more or less a global power, guided by the principles of democracy, was not just rhetoric but very thoughtful and meaningful words to cushion the effects of the concerns that India expressed over the arrival of the Chinese survey and research vessel Yuan Wang 5 at the Hambantota Port, which is on a 99-year lease to China.
The lease agreement signed in 2017 specifies that the Port sanctions any kind of military activity that could create a bellicose environment in and around the Indian Ocean region. Wickremesinghe, aware of the complexities of the Sino-Indian relationship, did not want to jeopardise relations with our neighbour.
On the contrary, he made it a point to ramp up bilateral relations with India through his soothing delivery, quoting the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, while trying to spare a semblance of thought for China, the friend from the Far East. Speaking at the event, the President said that it is the start of cooperation in maritime surveillance between the Sri Lanka Air Force, Sri Lanka Navy and the Indian Navy. Referring to India’s Independence dayanniversary on Monday, Wickremesinghe said he was inspired by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous “tryst with destiny” speech which was delivered on the eve of India’s independence on August 14, 1947.”It was the showing of the way forward by Pundit Nehru. India grasped it and is becoming a world power, and it is still on the rise—by the mid-century when we are no longer there, you could see a powerful India playing a dominant role on the global stage,” Wickremesinghe said.
He said Nehru played a leading role in Sri Lanka becoming a member of the United Nations. “He gave us full cooperation for Sri Lanka to become a member”, he said. The Indian UN representative at the time, V. Krishna Menon, had helped Wickremesinghe’s father who was then working on behalf of the Sri Lankan government to obtain UN membership. Wickremesinghe said he would like to advise the rising Sri Lankan politicians to get to know their Indian colleagues well. ‘If you do not get to know them well and get to deal with them, it will be difficult for you to look at and understand issues. India is Sri Lanka’s closest neighbour’.
‘We have common issues. It is essential we talk to them, “he went on to say. Wickremesinghe’s words of praise for India was carried across a broad spectrum of the Indian media. Political analysts pointed out that India needs reassurances from Sri Lanka about her dominant role in the Indian Ocean region.
The Neighbourhood First policy was one such project launched by the Indian government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consolidate India’s position in the region and among the members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association which has nearly twenty members.
Wickremesinghe has moved according to textbook rules and has not antagonised India. Even if India had some reservations, they would now dissipate gradually with the moves by the Sri Lankan authorities. The main question that Sri Lanka was confronted with was whether it had the capability to carry out marine surveillance. The answer was provided by India itself by providing the Dornier surveillance aircraft which will operate with the help of Indian expertise. In other words, theWickremesinghe government is keen to adopt an India-first policy, keeping in mind that a volatile situation could be triggered in the region at any moment due to the recurring Indo-China conflict. Sri Lanka in the 70s, under the leadership of Prime Minister SirimavoBandaranaike, urged that the Indian Ocean be considered a peace zone with equal rights shared among all the countries.
Alongside the buzz about the Dornier aircraft, elsewhere in the country and more specificallyin the southern port of Hambantota, plans were underway to receive the Yuan Wang 5 Chinese research and surveillance vessel.
At a media briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters, “As you are aware, Sri Lanka hasgiven Yuan Wang-5 permission to berth at its port’. He was responding to a question about Colombo giving its nod for the ship to berth at Hambantota Port days after asking it to defer thevisit following reported concerns expressed by India and the U.S.
Wenbin went on to explain how Yuan Wang 5 had berthed at the Port successfully with ‘active cooperation from the Sri Lankan side”.Referring to Indian and US concerns about a ship with military capability berthing in the Indian Ocean, Wenbin said “I want to stress again that the marine scientific research activities of the Yuan Wang 5 are consistent with international law and international common practice. They do not affect the security and economic interests of any country and should not be obstructed by any third party’. The Chinese Ambassador in Sri Lanka was on site to receive the ship, while former Law and Order Minister Sarath Weerasekara was there to represent the government. Weerasekera’s gaffe of trying to shake hands with the ship’s Captain was viewed by most as an embarrassing moment for the country. During his speech, Weerasekara referred to the restructuring ofChinese loans taken by Sri Lanka and virtually made a request to China to make available a bridging finance facility until International Monetary Fund assistance becomes available. Vasudeva Nanayakkara spoke in his inimitablestyle while Wimal Weerawansa, who also spoke, said Sri Lanka needs more Chineseinvestments but not loans to resuscitate the economy.
When asked about Indian concerns, the Chinese Ambassador parried the question by saying, “Go and ask your friends’. In all probability, he was referring to India. For all the other questions, including the restructuring of the Chinese loans, the Ambassador said the visit of the research vessel is nothing new and is normal. He said that in 2014 there was a similar visit.
The Chinese Ambassador brushed off as many questions as he possibly could by giving a standard answer. If Sri Lankan politicians expect the Chinese to restructure their loans to this country by allowing their vessel to berth at the Port, it is not what was expected of them. The Chinese for their part brushed off such questions with a smile and a statement that ‘it is a normal visit’. No Chinese official was able to give a proper answer given the situation at hand. Analysts point out that it should have been handled at a different forum and at a different level.
The government of Ranil Wickremesinghe is experiencing inordinate delays due to their inability to finalise the Sri Lanka PodujanaPeramuna list of cabinet ministers.
Basil Rajapaksa, the former Finance Minister who resigned from his parliamentary seat following the May 9 debacle and before bringing in the rejuvenated 19th amendment to the constitution that bans dual citizens from being members of parliament, is nevertheless acting behind the scenes and calling the shots on behalf of the SLPP.
He has allegedly nominated some 16 old and hacked faces including Johnston Fernando, Mahindananda Alutgamage, Namal Rajapaksa, Rohitha Abeygoonesekara, D.M.Chandrasena, and Gamini Lokuge to be ministers in the proposed all-party government, much to the chagrin of many right-thinking people. Some say that the slogan of the Galle Face Green protestors’ calling for a system change has undergone drastic changes and is now going into reverse gear tainted with a binge of corruption and nepotism. Many political analysts believe that the public will be outraged to see these names in the Cabinet of Ministers after knowing them and their sinister behavioural patterns for many years. With these incorrigible politicians, the next phase of the aragalaya, fermenting now, will commence sooner than later compared to the slow pace of the problem-ridden government.
Wickremesinghe should be mindful of the SLPP’s stranglehold on the government through its cadre. Unless Wickremesinghe wants to continue to be seen as the SLPP’s puppeteer, if he is keen to save face the best solution for him is to dissolve parliament at the earliest and call for a fresh mandate. An election at this juncture will lead to a crushing defeat of the SLPP and make way for fresh faces with a fresh mandate. It will set the stage for a new political culture with corruption and nepotism at minimum levels, and where equality will prevail with justice for all and the rule of law embedded in the system.
In his efforts to form an all-party government, President Wickremesinghe has held discussions with many political parties, including that of C.V. Wigneswaran. However, Gajendran Ponnamabalam declined to talk to the President over a question of mandate.
At the meeting with former Chief Minister Wigneswaran, the President revealed his plan to govern provinces with parliamentary governance committees and giving a greater role to the provincial governors. The President hadsaid that MP’s from the provinces should govern the province under the chairmanship of the governor and within the framework of a national agenda.
There were also a lot of discussions centredaround the de-listing of six Tamil organisationsand some 316 individuals. The government said it was done after a careful study but others said it was making use of the opportunity to secure Tamil diaspora money into the country to ramp up already depleted foreign reserves. Diaspora groups like the Global Tamil Forum said the de listing was because the UN Human Rights Council sessions are just weeks away. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund is poised to play a major role in recommending essential economic reforms to the Wickremesinghe government following their arrival in the country next week to map out a staff-level agreement. The Wickremesinghe government is keen to introduce these reforms,including a comprehensive privatisation plan.
Wickremesinghe believes that the government should keep out of business other than essential services to the community. However, there will be stiff resistance from the trade union sector and the left-oriented opposition that accuses the government of selling valuable state assets. Wickremesinghe on the other hand makes no bones that he couldn’t care less about theresistance since his economic reform programme is aimed at uplifting the status of the people and the economy in general.
An IMF team will visit Sri Lanka by the end of August. It could lead to the baby steps Sri Lanka will be taking to make the much talked about and anticipated staff-level agreement a reality to put the economy on a better footing.
According to Dr Nandalal Weerasinghe, the Governor of the Central Bank, there has been a slight improvement in the economy and SriLanka can now afford foreign exchange to get essentials and ease the burden on the populace.
He also said the Central Bank of Sri Lanka has no plans to introduce domestic debt restructuring which may put the local banks in aquandary and could have serious implications for the financial sector.
The question arose after President Wickremesinghe stated that the government may need to consider restructuring domestic debts. “What the President said was that the (international) financial advisors (the government appointed) are looking at the scenarios of any restructuring process. But thegovernment’s position remains that we intend to restructure the external part,” said the Governorlast Thursday. Wickremesinghe however, is known to be at odds with the Governor and if this divergence will lead to him being axed from the CBSL, it will precipitate more turbulence in an already troubled economy.
The President meanwhile is set to travel to Tokyo next month for the commemorative state funeral of assassinated Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe. President Wickremesinghe is likely to seize the opportunity while he is there to talk with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to make a formal request to invite Sri Lanka’s creditors such as India and China for talks on a bilateralrestructuring arrangement.
The government is also preparing itself to face a tumultuous UN Human Rights Council session in Geneva in September. Facing these 51stsessions could be an uphill climb for thegovernment in light of the plight the Sri Lankan people are facing because of the debilitating economic and political crises. The government’s refusal to heed calls by the international community to stop the witch hunt of peaceful protesters is likely to backfire at these sessions.Hence, it is taking a serious view of the situationsince the credentials of the government in respect of exercising the democratic rights of the people and restoration of law and order may come up in the nature of a serious indictment of unprecedented proportions.
The country may face a difficult situation, calling upon Foreign Minister Ali Sabry for an explanation. As a preemptive measure, Sabry took up questions from the Colombo-based diplomats and explained the circumstances under which the government was compelled to introduce a state of emergency.
Wickremesinghe has reposed a great deal of faith in the foreign minister. Although not a seasoned diplomat, the government believes that he could aspire to be one in time to come with his legal acumen. Wickremesinghe must be determined to steer the country out of troubled waters, but he must also have a greater tolerance for those who oppose him to take the country to the next level as a vibrant democracy.
