Successful Modi visit
14 May 2017
It has been axiomatic that good relations with India must be the
cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy. This necessity has been
largely observed during the post-Independence period, admittedly with
some serious aberrations particularly during the war years. Relations
were badly damaged when India, no doubt influenced by sub-regional
concerns in Tamil Nadu and the demands of realpolitik, permitted the
LTTE to train, base and stage from Indian territory during the early
days of the civil war that wracked this country for nearly 30 years.
Then India with its infamous parippu drop over Sri Lanka’s north weeks
before the Rajiv-JR Indo-Lanka Agreement of 1987, prevented the Tigers
being defeated at Vadamarachchi and indeed forced the agreement itself.
Later, relations between the Premadasa government and India were
strained due to the Sri Lankan president’s insistence that the Indian
Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), here under the Indo-Lanka Agreement, must
withdraw.
During the Sirima Bandaranaike years too there was
a problem despite the special relationship between Mrs. Bandaranaike
and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Mrs. B’s United Front Government
during the Bangladesh war of 1971 surprisingly permitted technical
stopovers at Katunayake to Pakistan Air Force flights denied entry into
Indian air space while flying from West Pakistan to the East which
eventually became Bangladesh. India’s unhappiness about this was
palpable, but with Pakistan defeated and Bangladesh created, the Sirima –
Indira relationship remained intact. But for the much greater part of
Sri Lanka’s contemporary post-Independence history, relations with
India were good primarily because Sri Lanka, at least tacitly, accepted
India’s role as the regional power. We did not always totally fall in
line with India’s wishes such as when the JRJ government permitted the
Voice of America to set up a radio transmission station at Iranawila
along the Western coast. But the broad brush canvas is that relations
have been cordial without Sri Lanka ever becoming a client state of
India. Incontrovertibly, India’s ongoing development thrust is offering
Sri Lanka economic opportunities in many areas.
The Modi
visit was undoubtedly a success with the visiting prime minister,
despite his 66-years, shown on television sprightly bounding up the
aircraft boarding ramp when he left on Friday evening demonstrating his
physical fitness. Visiting dignitaries often interact with opposition
personalities but the fact that the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa
requested a meeting with the Indian prime minister came as a surprise
in the context of Joint Opposition (JO) frontliner Wimal Weerawansa
calling for a black flag protest over the visit. Neither the Indians
nor the JO were forthcoming on the substance of the conversation
between Modi and the Rajapaksas beyond saying that the 40-minute
meeting at India House had been cordial. It wasn’t long ago that the JO
had been freely alleging that India had a hand in the regime change in
Sri Lanka two years ago. In fact, an Indian journalist who interviewed
Rajapaksa recently pointedly put this question to him. The former
president deftly fended her off saying there is no point in dwelling on
the past; what we must do is focus on the present and the future, he
said. That story had wide play in India.
Some analysts would
surely have wondered whether Colombo leaked the news about the Chinese
being refused a submarine docking in Sri Lanka, timing the story for
the Modi visit to score brownie points with India. But well informed
sources say this was not the case. After the story about the docking
being denied broke, Reuters reported from Beijing that China’s Defence
Ministry, in a statement sent to the news agency, did not directly
mention the denial of the request but had said that in recent years,
the Chinese and Sri Lankan militaries have had fruitful and effective
cooperation in areas like mutual visits and training. It had said such
cooperation "is beneficial to regional peace and stability and not
aimed at any third party and should not be interfered in by a third
party." The ‘third party’ reference was obviously to India; equally
obviously, Colombo’s denial of the submarine docking, last permitted in
October 2014, was due to India’s unhappiness over the previous event.
Sri Lanka has been quite open about the fact that the refusal was due to
India’s concerns.
Contrary to what was said in some
published reports, Prime Minister Modi did not "open" a new hospital at
Dickoya. The plaque unveiled on this occasion made clear that this
Indian-gifted hospital was dedicated by him. It had been completed and
handed over to the Sri Lankan authorities in 2014 but had been only
part-running since then due to equipment issues. Given that Modi was
visiting Sri Lanka, and would welcome an opportunity of meeting of
people of recent Indian descent upcountry, it had been decided that he
would make the dedication and address the meeting that attracted a
large crowd. Always the consummate politician, Modi who does not speak
Tamil had worked hard on a few Tamil sentences to begin his speech,
much to the delight of his audience, before switching to English. He
said all the right things on this occasion although some carping
critics have argued that any public meeting he had should have
addressed a cross-section of the country’s population rather than
exclusively people of Indian descent.
It was clear from the
visit that India is keen on strengthening bilateral relations that are
now excellent and is perceptive about the concerns and desires of the
host. Agreeing to come here as chief guest for the UN’s International
Vesak Day celebration was a generous gesture giving the event more
weight and prestige than it would have otherwise attracted. This was of
immense benefit to Sri Lanka. The occasion had great visibility in
India and also elsewhere in the Buddhist world. In the context of
domestic politics here, Indian diplomats were at pains to stress that
the visit was purely Vesak related and no substantive issues would be
taken up. That was the way it was played. Nobody would or could dispute
the truth of Prime Minister Modi’s assertion India’s current
development thrust would benefit her neigbours immensely. Sri Lanka has
for long been using her location on the doorstep of the subcontinent
as a major plank to attract foreign investment.
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