India votes against, Pakistan for Sri Lanka at UNHRC
Posted on March 22nd, 2013
(courtesy Times of India)
On Wednesday, as the government struggled to keep DMK back and save the UPA, it had ordered ministry of foreign affairs to move seven amendments against Lanka along with the US and other sponsors. This came out of a meeting between PM, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid, finance minister P Chidambaram, national security advisor ( NSA) Shivshankar Menon, foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai and India’s permanent representative to UN Dilip Sinha. These amendments were tough enough that would have ensured a serious downturn in Indo-Lankan ties.
These written amendments were rejected by the US and other sponsors, on the grounds that a tighter resolution would reduce the number of supporters for the resolution. Incidentally, the initial draft of the resolution took a tough line against Lanka. It needed a lot of quiet negotiations by Indian officials to water down the text of the resolution to make it reasonably acceptable to both New Delhi and Colombo.
For India to attempt to amend the resolution yet again, for domestic political considerations, is a new low in New Delhi’s foreign policy.
Not content with the US rejection, the government then ordered that India move an oral amendment at the UNHRC on Thursday morning. On Wednesday night, Opposition parties had refused to accede to a government move to pass a parliamentary resolution against Lanka. That reduced the need for an oral amendment, particularly since India risked getting isolated in the Council, since it was unlikely that other sponsors would back the resolution.
In the end, India voted for the resolution that had been revised only a couple of days earlier. The resolution went through with 25 votes in favour (one more than last year), 13 against, eight abstentions and Gabon, which was absent. The countries that stood with Sri Lanka included eight Asian nations, two from Latin America and three from Africa.
In a swift reaction, Lankan government announced it would take back some of the tanks from the Indian Oil Corporation’s strategic reserve facility in Trincomalee. Lankan information minister Keheliya Rambukwella on Thursday announced plans to retake unutilized tanks from Lanka IOC.
In its intervention at the UNHRC, Indian envoy, Dilip Sinha said India “… call on Sri Lanka to move forward on its public commitments, including on the devolution of political authority through full implementation of the 13th Amendment.” In its strongest stricture to Colombo yet, Sinha said, “We urge Sri Lanka to take forward measures to ensure accountability. We expect these measures to be to the satisfaction of the international community.” For those who follow texts carefully, this was a stronger formulation than an “independent investigation” but weaker than an “international” investigation.
On Thursday, India risked close ties with a next-door neighbour, and may have pushed Colombo further into the arms of China.
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March 22nd, 2013 at 3:24 pm
Time is ripe for the Sinhala Nation to rise up and say once and for all that there are no Tamil Areas in Sri Lanka nor Traditional Homelands. It is time to say aloud that Sri Lanka belongs to all Sri Lankans and historically it is Sinhala land – called Sinhale’.
It is the absence of such cry from the Sinhalese and their trust on the ruling party – that ultimately helps the enemy – Christian West, the Christian Church and the Racist Tamils. Sinhalese can help the ruling party UPFA by calling for equal rights with the Tamils. For well over 60 years we are bending over backwards to appease the ever burgeoning first grievances and now aspirations – all this at a cost to the poor suffering Sinhalese masses. The suffering Sinhala masses have to foot the bill of Uturu Wasanthaya and Nagenahira Navodaya.
All this is acceptable if at least there is some recognition all what is done. It is the SInhalese who lost land with the advent of the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British and with them the indented labour that came from South India to tend their plantations – initially tobacco, then coffee and finally coffee. In the Northern Province the Sinhalese lost land to the tobacco plantations in a similar fashion to how the Kandyan peasantry lost their land due to the infamous Waste Land Ordinance of the hated British.
For the Sri Lanka the recognition came in the form of a UN Resolution, backed to the hilt by our so called ‘closest neighbour, historical relation, and friend”. Fact of the matter is even if Sri Lanka won the war with zero casualties, Sri Lanka’s enemies – the Christian West, the Christian Church headed by the Catholic Church and the Tamil Diaspora would have found some other excuse to bring the charges against Sri Lanka – till Sri Lanka accede to their agenda to dismember Sri Lanka as a stepping stone to balkanise India. Indian idiots know this, but their ever bloated egos are gambling on the premise that they can destroy Sri Lanka and still retain the current integrity of the Union of India!
It is the SInhalese who lost land with the advent of thPortuguese, the Dutch, the British and with them the indented labour that came from South India to tend their plantations – initially tobacco, then coffee and finally coffee. In the Northern Province the Sinhalese lost land to the tobacco plantations in a similar fashion to how the Kandyan peasantry lost their land due to the infamous Waste Land Ordinance of the hated British.
It is the silence of the lambs that take them to the slaughter house!
March 22nd, 2013 at 8:41 pm
Take over ALL the tanks in Trinco.
Pack ALL Indians in the country OUT.
Bring China in.
Station a Chinese spy satellite ABOVE SL to monitor Endia.