The President's India visit

Point of view by K. Godage

The build up to this visit has been quite unrealistic unless of course the President has been assured that he would not return empty handed as was the lot of Anura Bandaranaike when he rushed across immediately after he assumed duties to pay his respects to the 'Lords' in Delhi before he embarked on his visit to China to attend a conference which had been scheduled earlier.

The Minister had apparently been informed that it was not wise to visit without paying obeisance for Delhi would be 'offended'. He went there hoping to score some form of victory but returned empty handed. We do sincerely hope that this would not be the lot of the affable new President who appears to have great expectations of the Indians.

But we have followed India's recent record in their relations with us have no over-expectations of India. It would neither be impertinent nor condescending to state that we only hope that India has a policy that determines her relations with her neighbours which takes full account of her own security.

Whilst our security, unity and territorial integrity is of foremost concern to us at this time we are reminded of the words of both former Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral and former Defence Minister Fernandes who stated that the unity of India and Sri Lanka are the same; the security, unity and territorial integrity of the two countries is indivisible.

Any separate mono ethnic state carved out of Sri Lanka could also lead to Balkanization in India. India is the only country which has a permanent interest in Sri Lanka. There is today a total acceptance that our destinies are as bound together as would be the destinies of Siamese twins. If harm comes to one the other would suffer too.

What could be India's concerns, I would list them as follows:-

Geopolitical:

1) India's security is quite naturally her foremost consideration.

2) The LTTE would inspire separatist groups in India.

3) The LTTE establishing a mono-ethnic Tamil state would spur Tamil nationalism in Tamil Nadu.

4) Liaison between the LTTE and Indian separatist and other regional groups would pose a threat to India's security.

5) The establishment of a dictatorial entity in Lanka would result in new refugee inflows to India.

6) Indian territory could once again become a battlefield for rival militant groups from Sri Lanka.

7) The criminalization of Indian society.

8) The possible rise of Islamic extremism and militancy in eastern Sri Lanka.

The LTTE is presently posing a serious threat to Sri Lanka. The LTTE is ready to wage war again having used the period of the ceasefire to strengthen themselves militarily as they did twice before.

Today they also demand that its Sea Tigers be recognized as being on par with the Sri Lanka Navy! The LTTE also demands that Sri Lanka recognize its area of control in the sea and not interfere with its ships. They also demand that certain areas of the ocean be reserved as no-go areas for the Sri Lanka Navy and that such areas be designated as areas for Naval exercises and training where live firing exercises would take place.

This demand has been described by diplomats in Colombo as being absolutely ludicrous. "If you give into such demands you might as well agree to their separate state" said a Colombo based diplomat.

Another stated that nowhere in the world would a federated unit be allowed have its own Navy, leave alone have its own territorial waters. This they said presents a challenge not only to Sri Lanka but to India and the region as well.

India has been silent in the face of this challenge. This is indeed disturbing for it appears that India, a mighty nation, is paralyzed because of coalition politics and is reluctant despite her stated commitment to our unity and territorial integrity to act at a time when her own security is also under threat.

It appears that this visit of the President to India has been engineered by the 'South Block'. Let us hope they are more sensitive to the situation here and will have their way not only in pushing their own government to play a more decisive role but to get our President to accept a solution based on the 13th Amendment which they inspired.

Referring to the visit of our President to India, the Opposition Janata Party President Dr. Subramanium Swamy has asked the Indian PM to make any assistance to the SLG conditional on our extraditing Pirabakaran surely the man should no better.

If mighty India has not been able to do so how can we? The Indians would make the excuse that they cannot violate the sovereignty of another country but they did not give it a second thought when they intimidated Sri Lanka in 1987 and did an air drop. Incidentally India's most wanted men are in territory which the LTTE claims is within their jurisdiction and sovereignty and outside the writ of the government in Colombo.

To revert to the current situation, the Co-Chairs have issued a comprehensive statement warning the LTTE of serious consequences if they escalate the violence and the LTTE has responded in its own inimitable way by killing in a cowardly manner more of our Servicemen; but what of the country that has the biggest stake in Sri Lanka? They have not condemned the LTTE leave alone issuing a warning.

The silence, for whatever reason, is being considered by many in Sri Lanka to be deafening. Would it be that they fear that the D.M.K. and Vaiko and company would place an unhelpful and unwelcome construction on any expression of concern and buck the coalition?

Relations between our two countries significantly improved after Mrs. Kumaratunga assumed office as President. In her own words India is our immediate neighbour, with whom we have been inextricably linked by ties the origins of which have long been lost in the mist of time.

We have with the broadest and deepest interaction that we as a nation could have with another state. India therefore possesses the capacity, given her vastly disparate strength and influence, to help or hinder to a great extent. In a word the India factor is crucial to the existence of our nation.

Forging and sustaining a mutually trusting and supportive friendship with India must therefore be for us, not just a conscious and soundly judged policy, it is a natural and vital ingredient for our national well-being."

President Chandrika Kumaratunga and the late Minister Kadirgamar reached out and mended fences and restored the relationship to what it almost was during the tenure of Mrs. Bandaranaike as Prime Minister. Since then Ranil Wickremesinghe as leader of the Opposition and Milinda Moragoda cultivated close personal relations with the BJP leadership when they were in the opposition.

They also cultivated senior politicians of the party assiduously. Subsequent to assuming office as Prime Minister Wickremesinghe he introduced a whole new vision to the relationship. He and Minister Milinda Moragoda have been responsible for developing the relationship to unprecedented levels. "There has indeed been a quantum leap" in Indo-Lanka relations.

The level of economic co-operation has reached unprecedented levels, we have moved towards a comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. Indian investment in this country has tripled and there is mention of an exclusive Export Processing Zone in Trincomalee for Indian investors.

The Indian Oil Corporation a 'Fortune Five Hundred' company will invest millions of dollars to develop the Oil Tank farm in Trincomalee. The Corporation has entered into the petroleum distribution business, taking over one hundred Service stations around the country.

But whilst all this is indeed good, India, which seeks a seat in the UN Security Council to safeguard international peace and security is reluctant to ensure peace and stability in its own backyard and to safeguard its own interest; this is quite unbelievable.

The Indian High Commissioner has stated recently that our relations are time-tested but what have we to show for it in recent times? One of her predecessors offered us ships to evacuate our troops when our country came within an ace of being actually divided. It was thanks to Pakistan and one other country that we were able to beat back the enemy.

There is yet another factor which was absent previously which should augur well for securing a sustainable and just peace in this country is the new US-India axis. Today that relationship has become quite special to both parties for they have entered into a strategic relationship.

The security of the Indian Ocean is vital to safeguard. India's national interest and it is also vital to the US for it is the supreme Naval power in the region. This augurs well for our country too only if they have the political will to assert themselves and intervene to bring peace to this country which is under threat from the most brutal terrorist group which has no compunction about using terrorism to achieve political goals.

In conclusion may I fervently hope that our President would not be sent back with that oft quoted Indian Mantra, "India supports the process of seeking a negotiated settlement acceptable to all sections of Sri Lanka society within the framework of a united Sri Lanka and consistent with democracy, pluralism, and respect for individual rights.

India maintains an abiding interest in the security of Sri Lanka and remains committed to its unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity"; We do hope that our President's expectations will be fulfilled and our relationship put on a new and firm footing with India climbing on board and joining the Co-Chairs and ensuring a peaceful settlement of our ethno-terrorist problem.

This would be the bear minimum that India could do for I seriously doubt the government which is being held hostage by Karunanidhi and Vaiko would ever consider agreeing to use Trinco as a base or sending their war ships into our eastern waters to send a 'message' to the LTTE (perhaps they should ask their strategic partners, the US to do this).

India which has more influence than us in the world could also use this influence to cripple the LTTE's operations overseas or would this be too much to expect?