Another Indian threat: India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj threatens Sri Lanka
Posted on March 27th, 2017

Shenali D Waduge

Every time a Chinese high-powered delegation arrives in Sri Lanka, India throws a salvo – Our aim is to protect the interests of Tamils in Sri Lanka. You can achieve this through two means, by either doing it forcefully or through persuasion”. Sushma Swaraj goes on to say that Sri Lanka war crimes is a cause of pain and anguish for India. Firstly, it is good for India to remember that if Tamils are citizens of Sri Lanka it is the Sri Lankan Government that must protect the interests of those Tamil citizens and not India. India must look after the interests of Tamils living in India. Next, India needs to be reminded about the pain and anguish Sri Lanka has suffered because of India for 3 decades. India is again reminded that Tamil armed militancy was birthed by none other than India. India even provided logistics, training and even funded that militancy. The 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord was another intervention Sri Lanka was forced to sign that forced Sri Lanka’s constitution to be amended to incorporate the provincial council system and the merger of two provinces which India had been eyeing as a means to annex Sri Lanka incrementally using the Tamil card as guise.

While India refused to supply arms to Sri Lanka to defeat the LTTE, India claims it backed Sri Lanka to defeat the LTTE. So says Nitin Gokhale’s book Sri Lanka, From War to Peace”. Why should a superpower like India be scared of LTTE & LTTE Tamil Diaspora to openly sell arms to a friendly neighbour trying to defeat terrorists (that India created) that India had to quietly gift’ offshore patrol vessels. Pakistan and China were not fearful of the LTTE.

Another book by retired Indian diplomat Shiva Shankar Menon admits India’s role in Sri Lanka’s conflict. The extended version was seen when India thought the need to dislodge Mahinda Rajapakse’s government and install the present government which was tasked to India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and RAW’s Colombo head Ilango. A classic case of regime change engineered via elections primarily because of China’s development initiatives and China’s closeness to Sri Lanka co-opted the role of the West in that diabolical agenda. Three months after the election win the Indian Premier arrived in Sri Lanka. This prompted Liu Zongyi, a researcher from the Shanghai Institute for International Studies to say Modi included in his Sri Lanka trip the city of Jaffna in the Tamil-majority Northern province, which in fact shows India’s interference in the country’s internal affairs”.

Chu Yin, an associate professor at the University of International Relations echoed India’s interference “China has no intention to offend India, and the program is good for Sri Lanka’s economic development. But if India has a problem with the program and oppresses its neighbour, it only shows that it is interfering in other countries’ domestic affairs,” Apparently the Hambantota Port development was initially offered to India before it was offered to China. Another classic case of India crying over spoilt milk!

Obviously India does not want any of India’s neighbors to prosper or develop other than using the sub-standard handouts India decides to dole out if and only if the neighbors behave as obedient servants of India. If not the economic blockade Nepal suffered and the meddling in its constitution drafted is what is in store. All of India’s SAARC neighbors will have plenty of Indian interference examples to give. In the 21st century, does India seriously expect countries to follow such orders and refuse to accept opportunities for development that would raise the living standards of these countries and their people as well as improve global trade economics?

The list of incursions and interferences in Sri Lanka are many triggered by numerous local entities on Indian payroll as agents peddling Indian intervention.

A recent debate on Sri Lanka’s constitution had MP Sumanthiran and Attorney Wigneswaran silently nodding approval for foreign intervention. Tamil leaders are eternally promoting the need to implement the 13th amendment in full simply to keep India happy. Should we call ourselves a sovereign country if we have to please other countries at the cost of our national sovereignty?

There is a history to India’s incursions, interventions and interferences. There have been 17 invasions by South Indians on Sri Lanka, most of these invasions ended up destroying historical Sinhala Buddhist sites in the North and forcing Sinhala settlements to move southwards.

Why would India celebrate the 1000th anniversary of an ancient Tamil King (Rajendra Chola 1) who was the first to make conquests overseas? His father King Raja Raja Cholan captured Anuradhapura resulting in King Mahinda fleeing to Ruhuna and captured by the Cholas and taken prisoner to India where he died. What is interesting is the attempt by the RSS to ascribe Hindu identity to the Tamil king.

It was timed amidst the constant Indian fishermen headache with thousands of Indian bottom trawlers invading Sri Lanka’s maritime waters to steal Sri Lanka’s fish and then making diplomatic noise whenever these fishermen are arrested! Where is the anguish by India and Sushma Swaraj regarding the loss of livelihood to the Northern Sri Lankan Tamils when Indian fishermen steal the fish that belong to Sri Lanka’s territorial waters?

Sushma Swaraj please refer India’s former Union Law Minister and advocate Ram Jethmalani said that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was created by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for the protection of Indian interests. They were trained by our own agency RAW. When the Chinese and the Pakistanis were establishing their power in Sri Lanka, Indira wanted some force inside Sri Lanka to safeguard our Indian interests,” Alfred Duraiappah the Tamil Mayor of Jaffna was killed by Prabakaran probably using an Indian bullet. Scores of Tamil policemen, public officials, principals killed were by the 35 militant groups India trained clandestinely in India (LTTE were using 6 camps in India by 1986)

Eelam self-determination borrowed from quest launched initially in Tamil Nadu. Tamil leaders from both countries have been peddling pseudo-historical interpretations to justify that 76million Tamils should have a separate homeland.  You cannot solve issues that have no historical legitimacy but bursting with propaganda and lies.

India kept an initial control over the armed militants. RAW chief Gauri Shankar Bajpai had admitted that Colonel Kittu (Sathasivam Krishnakumar), the LTTE commander, was India’s mole in the militant outfit. LTTE’s Deputy Mahaththaya was also an Indian agent and that ended his life. Thereafter, LTTE became adopted by global geopolitics and Tamil ethnic minority card became the battering ram used by the West, its NGO missionaries and West’s judiciary the UN. Sumanthian and the role of Catholic priests – Father Emmanuel, Bishop Rayappu Joseph in the Eelam sing song will reveal the global nature of the Eelam quest. How inclusive of ‘Tamils’ this interest is will be found out when Tamils face the fate that befell those who now suffer in independent Kosovo and independent South Sudan. They have neither independence nor self-sufficiency!

Didn’t India feel pain and anguish for the Indian Peace Keeping Force soldiers who were killed by the LTTE. Some 2000 soldiers had to wait 30 years for a remembrance stone to be erected for them. When the Indian PM arrived for the SAARC summit in 2008, unveiling of the war memorial was not in the Indian’s Prime Minister’s itinerary.

Didn’t Sushma Swaraj feel pain and anguish for the 3000 Tamil women that the Indian soldiers raped? Why has India not conducted an investigation against these crimes which we hear are taking place even in Kashmir?

Does India not feel pain and anguish for the many civilians LTTE killed including Tamils and an unknown number of Tamil children kidnapped and turned into LTTE child soldiers? Were the fate of these Tamils not as important to India as the LTTE for which India is speaking on behalf?

If the UNHRC resolutions had the nod of approval by India, it also clearly meant that the 2002 Ceasefire Agreement that officially gave territory to LTTE also had India’s consent. It proved beyond doubt that to India the killing of Rajiv Gandhi by LTTE, politically meant nothing and India continued to use LTTE to leverage political advantage of Sri Lanka. India voted against Sri Lanka at the UNHRC in 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2015 but voted against the UNHRC resolution in 2014 given the international investigative scope fearing it would internationalize the Kashmiri issue.

The Tamil” card has been beneficial to India. Using ‘Interest for Tamils’ India has been able to open consulates in North Sri Lanka and even Hambantota. Indian illegal immigration has recently been highlighted by Sultan M Hali who says writes Indian Tamil are being infiltrated as visitors and refugees and being provided with Sri Lankan passports with the help of Indian Consulate General, Jaffna. Reportedly, an amount of $6,000/- is paid to Sri Lankan authorities for obtaining Sri Lankan Identity Card and passport.” This is quite a serious development. India is attempting to change the demography of Sri Lanka while eventually displacing Sri Lankan Tamils by increasing Indian Tamils in North Sri Lanka. Obviously the Sri Lankan Tamils have not reviewed the dangerous repercussions of this.

Is India’s interest in Sri Lanka due to the fact that 35% of LTTE’s cadres were in fact Indian? Is this why India is building homes and infrastructure in North Sri Lanka and promoting Indian cinema artists to open these structures. A November 2003 report by P K Balachandran to the Hindustan Times claims that Tamilselvan, Prabakaran’s right hand man had confirmed this including the fact that Prabakaran’s personal bodyguards were also Indian because he trusted them more than the Sri Lankan Tamils! Now that is very interesting given that Prabalaran was supposed to want to create an eelam for his Sri Lankan Tamils!!! If he was referring to the Indian Origin Tamils it would mean the estate Tamils whom the colonials imported from India to work on the plantations and whom were all low caste including Prabakaran and virtually all of his fighting cadres.

Just as India enjoys playing the ‘Tamil’ card, the Vellala high castes are using it to regain and remain supreme over all Tamils. The racism continues in the diatribe of Wigneswaran and Sambanthan depict this while the mouthpiece of Sumanthiran echoes how the Western evangelical factor has entered the Eelam scene with the West also using the minority ethnic Tamil card for its geopolitical agendas.

Not only did India create the LTTE, India created Tamil racism that has become a cancer without medication.

If Prabakaran, the entity that India created went against India, it means India’s untrustworthiness was detected by Prabakaran and it is enough reason for Tamils themselves to wake up to realities that they are being used by all including the Tamil politicians on both sides of the Palk Straits.

Shenali D Waduge

http://www.island.lk/2003/11/11/news06.html 35% of our fighters are Tamils of Indian origin: LTTE (by PK Balachanddran)

http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/03/30/ecta-indian-invasion-gopalaswamy-mahendraraja-mahattaya-of-ltte-was-a-raw-agent-who-else/comment-page-1/

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-will-go-with-consensus-on-sri-lanka-resolution-at-unhrc-govt-4582476/

http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/SL-war-crimes-have-caused-pain-and-anguish-for-India-Sushma-126126.html

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/02/10/slin-f10.html – Shiv Shankar Menon admits India’s role

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/india-interfering-in-sri-lankas-internal-affairs-chinese-scholar/articleshow/57019492.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/India-interfering-in-Sri-Lankas-internal-affairs-says-Chinese-thinktank/articleshow/46637449.cms

http://pakobserver.net/indian-interventions-in-sri-lanka/

34 Responses to “Another Indian threat: India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj threatens Sri Lanka”

  1. Cerberus Says:

    Dear Shenali, Thank you for this timely article. In this connection please see the article below which was published earlier in Lankaweb.
    http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015/12/24/it-is-the-sinhalese-who-need-protection-under-the-r2p-of-the-un-from-77-million-tamils-across-the-palk-straits/

  2. Somapala Senerath Says:

    This interfering will go on until a leader with backbone, who removes 13A and expose India’s terror on SriLanka is openly exposed to the world with a resolution at the UN.

  3. Christie Says:

    Look at India as it is. Look at Indians ads they are.

    India has an Empire. Indians are all over the world.

    Tamils are Indians.

  4. Ananda-USA Says:

    India did anything but “protect Tamils” in Sri Lanka.

    For India, Sri Lanka’s Tamils were a convenient tool to punish Sri Lanka for moving towards the West and a Capitalist economy while India was mired in a stagnant Socialist economy and aligned with the Soviet Union.

    Even today, India uses the “Tamil Issue” to keep a foot within Sri Lanka, to undermine Sri Lanka’s economic growth and independence, and protect its own national security by keeping China out of Sri Lanka.

    In the latter goal, India collaborates with the Neocolonialist West which is FRANTIC at the RESURGENCE of China they had RAPED at will over the centuries!

    We Sri Lankans KNOW who initiated Tamil Terrorism in Sri Lanka, and who even now plays the Tamil Card at the UN to keep Sri Lanka underfoot!

    That is why the ETCA should NEVER BE IMPLEMENTED; India is a CLEAR & PRESENT DANGER to Sri Lanka that must be kept at Bay.

    Yes! We need China as an ally to fend off India. But, even the alliance with China must be crafted so that Sri Lanka maintains control over its own land, its own economy, and its own national resources. Influx of immigrants from ANY COUNTRY must be PROHIBITED! Sri Lanka must be ONLY for Sri Lankans!

    As the Lord Buddha has taught us, we should adhere to the MIDDLE PATH in ALL THINGS; therein lies our survival!

    As the Greeks say: “Pan Metron Ariston” meaning “Moderation is Best in All Things”!

  5. Fran Diaz Says:

    Thanks to Shenali for this article.

    ———

    Everyone knows that INDIA trained the LTTE in Tamil Nadu. Lanka suffered neraly 30 yrs of murder and destruction of property as a result of the LTTE.
    Everyone knows that INDIA imposed the 13-A under Duress on the JRJ govt. The 13-A is therefore ILLEGAL and a very divisive piece of legislation.

    Who pays Lanka for the loss of life, funds & reputation abroad, for this cruel adventure of INDIA interfering in Lanka ?

    INDIA should look after Tamil Nadu INDIAN people and see to it that there are NO ILLEGAL migrants from Tamil Nadu, INDIA, to Lanka. Tamils come to Lanka illegally because life is better for them in LANKA with NO CASTE problems, discrimination, as in Tamil Nadu.
    INDIA should ensure that there is NO ILLEGAL FISHING IN LANKA SEAS.

    Where is INDIAN HONESTY & INTEGRITY ?
    The Motto on the INDIAN FLAG SAY ‘TRUTH WINS’.

  6. Dilrook Says:

    @Ananda

    There are two huge problems in the application of the Middle Path approach.

    Is it our action that should follow middle path or is it the end result of our actions that should follow middle path?

    If it is the former (middle path action), then it will be an unmitigated disaster though it is easy. If it is the latter (middle path results) which is harder but achieves good.

    To explain through an example, TNA demands Tamil Eelam while the other extreme refuses anything above 13A. Middle path action would dictate something between the two which is 13A Plus something more (but less than Tamil Eelam). The next application of middle path action would result in Tamil Eelam minus an insignificant amount of power.

    Middle path outcome would look at Tamil Eelam on one hand and absolute unitary on the other and then arrive at a happy middle (which will be 13A Minus) – share power with minorities nationally with no provincial councils.

    Sri Lanka followed the middle path action approach and joined the Non Aligned Movement as a very active member. The results speak for themselves – an absolute disaster. Insurrections in 1971 and 1987-89, riots in 1983 and a war from 1976 to 2009. All these had other NAM members’ (and superpowers’) hands in them! What should have happened is, Sri Lanka should not have joined NAM but opportunistically align with the 3 camps (USA, SU and NAM) as Singapore did. In fact, LKY did warn Sirima of this. With the collapse of NAM, these dangers disappeared gradually.

    Another example is India-China. India is already in Sri Lanka in a huge way. So following middle path action between then results in absolute bias towards India. If middle path results are focused, China needs to be invited and involved in Sri Lanka in a massive way (as much as India is). If we follow the middle path action approach, Sri Lanka will be an Indian colony very soon and China finding the island as another Andaman island.

    There is a second problem with the middle path approach. Just because we follow the middle path doesn’t mean others would reciprocate. Many foolish Sri Lankans naively believe that when we follow the middle path approach, the world will honour it and leave us alone. Not the case. India for instance follows the concept – you are either with us or with them – for its neighbours. It takes out the confusion (for India) of a middle. India wants Sri Lanka to assume all the risks of its impending confrontation with Pakistan and China. If not, it considers Sri Lanka to be an enemy. In this case, even if we take middle path action or work towards middle path outcomes, India will perceive Sri Lanka to be its enemy. It is a country with no friends in the region and it could care less!

  7. Wetta Says:

    Being defensive against Indian invasions is not going to work. With that kind of eternal enemy, attacking will be the best form of defense. That was the method finally worked to defeat LTTE, so, already tried, and proved to be working.

    There are several fronts this “attack” can be activated. Without elaborating I would say they are linked to the factors in Kashmir, Pakistan, Tamil separatism ideology in Tamil Nadu, China, Nepal and Bangladesh. If we Sri Lankans are smart enough (at the moment not because a bunch of donkeys and enslaved puppets are running (or ruining) the country), they should make use of all above factors in an offensive manner against India, rather than winging against Indian aggression.

    Supporting to creating a separate independent state called Tamil Nadu is the strongest factor here and it should be used to the fullest degree, with the co-operation with China to off-set any military threat. You will see how friendly the Tamil Nadu politicians will become with Sri Lanka when that project is initiated. Don’t think that they (new Tamil Nadu state) will be “free” to attack Sri Lanka after that, because the very existence Tamil Nadu will be eternally threatened by the “remaining” weaker India. This weaker India will then need a very friendly Sri Lanka to counter Tamil Nadu. Then the trump card comes to our hands rather than in Indian hands.

    RAW probably has foreseen this possibility and that is why the ETCA, Hanuman bridge etc are being initiated to pollute, sabotage and weaken Sri Lankan polity by populating Indians inside Sri Lanka.

  8. Ananda-USA Says:

    Dilrook,

    You have grabbed the wrong end of my Middle Path stick and misinterepted what I said.

    I did not use the Middle Path to mean an inoffensive docile role for Sri Lanka, but a posture in which we do not alienate Sri Lanka’s resources to any foreign country, while recognize NGO who represents the greater threat and offsetting that threat with other powerful allies with whom we establish alliances that preserve Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and freedom from complete domination.

    The THRUST of what I was saying is that NEITHER China, NOR India, NOR for that matter any other foreign country, should be allowed to DOMINATE Sri Lanka, economically, politically or militarily, because then Sri Lanka would become a prey to that country’s agenda including colonization by its people.

    For example, we should not let any of our Ports or Industrial zones become exclusive zones legally dominated by a foreign country, like for example, Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and the former Panama Canal Zone in Panama, dominated by the US.

    Because of India’s proximity, and the threat posed by the Tamil internal 5th column, India is a FAR GREATER THREAT to Sri Lsnka than is China.

    Therefore, I advocate completely halting investments in Sri Lanka by Indian citizens and businesses, and completely stopping the entry of temporary or permanent Indian workers, and a divetdification in the purchase of capital goods beyond Infian suppliers. Cross-border trade in non-capital goods can be allowed, as long as India buys at least as much as we buy from India. Right now, we buy far more from India thsn India buys from Sri Lanka. Such a relationship with India will not allow India to dominate and overwhelm Sri Lanka evonomically or demographically.

    I read an article today that the GOSL is now looking to reduce the stake by China in the Hambantota Port to 60% or lower, but that the Chinese company is demanding a majority stake of at least 51%.

    Why, is China wanting a majority stake if their motivation is collaboration and not neo-colonial domination for some undeclared reason?

    That is why I think MR/UPFA’s proposal of a 40% stake and a 49-year lease period is far better for SL, given that the proposal also included other safeguards such as a far-smaller industrial zone, employment of a Sri Lankans as the majority of the work force, legal and security jurisdiction by Sri Lanka, and navigation and harbor piloting services by Sri Lanka.

    Under such a proposal, although China’s economic stake is still large, it is neither economically preponderant, nor jurisdictionally impacts on Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

    That is a COLLABORATION between ALLIES, whereas the Yamapalana agreement amounts to COLONIZATION by a STRONGER nation of the land of a WEAKER nation. The Chinese should understand this instinctively, as they were subjected under duress to such colonization schemes by Europeans (Hong Kong, Macau, factory zones in Shanghai, etc).

    BTW, I would not be averse to giving China a MINORITY stake (upto 49%, say 40%) in Trincomalee Port and an industrial zone of limited ectent as equity to partially offset the debt to China. The governing principles are: the majority stake should ALWAYS be in Sri Lankan hands in any project, the project should employ primarily Sri Lankan workers, and the lease period should be no more than 49 years. No single project should be owned more than 49% by foreign countries or by foreign companies.

    That way, we can develop that port and the industrial zone too …. perhaps for a significantly different purpose from that of Hambanyota Harbor such as SHIP-BUILDING, capital goods manufacturing and servicing of, say, off-shore oil drilling platforms, wind turbines, wave energy generators, solar panels and solar thermal power plants, locomotives, cars, construction and agricultural machinery, electrical motors and generators, and even industrial metals (eg. iron, steel, copper, ) manufacturing.

  9. Ananda-USA Says:

    Oops! Meant to say “recognizing that India represents the greater threat” ….

  10. Lorenzo Says:

    Wetta has understood the situ very well.

    Now some idiots will JUMP up and down and say we cannot “attack” Endia. She meant intelligently COUNTER Endia. Not to attack as such.

    1. IF we can help Tamil Madu get their LONG LOST INDEPENDENCE from Endia, the HANUMANS in DELHI will have their tail and ass on fire!

    2. China, Pakistan and USA will HELP us.

    3. Even Russia will help us because MANY nations need MANY weapons. Russia is Endia’s biggest weapons supplier.

    4. Tamil Madu will be TEMPORARILY grateful to SL. Do NOT expect long term gratefulness from them!!!

    5. We can NEGOTIATE with them to DROP the war crimes BS in return to RECOGNIZE TAMIL MADU as an independent nation.

    6. DOMINO. Other Endian states will also collapse. We can PICK our friends from 30 UNITARY nations. We can help them with governance, etc. because we are the ONLY large UNITARY country in the region.

    7. TN will come to WAR with us in future. But TN will NOT have NUKES, NO subs, NO massive airforce, no massive navy, etc. and they will have disputes with KERALA, etc. MANY Endian states will support SL. Now we have NONE.

    8. Small Buddhist KINGDOMS will REAPPEAR in Endia!!

    9. We can save BHUTAN – a fellow Buddhist country now in Endia’s crosshairs.

    10. BIGGEST advantage is STOPPING the dirt called Endia becoming a SECURITY COUNCIL permanent member. IF divided, it has NO CHANCE of going there.

    Kamalikka should be a foreign policy advisor along with Chenali.

  11. Christie Says:

    Thanks Ananda,
    What Ananda USA has written is what I would expect last to hear from some one who lived in the West.

    In the West All Indians including Tamils are a one lot. They live in their own ghettos and look after each other no matter where they came from. India, Mauritius, Guyana, Malaysia, West Indies, Burma etc.

    In the West including USA their are millions of Indian vermin who are united to push the Indian imperialist wheelbarrow.

  12. Christie Says:

    Thanks Ananda,
    What Ananda USA has written is what I would expect last to hear from some one who lived in the West.

    In the West All Indians including Tamils are a one lot. They live in their own ghettos and look after each other no matter where they came from. India, Mauritius, Guyana, Malaysia, West Indies, Burma etc.

    In the West including USA their are millions of Indian vermin who are united to push the Indian imperialist wheelbarrow.

    Shenali; this is not another threat. This is an open threat. Indians use nonviolent aggression and oppression as their weapon of mass destruction.

    Time has come to unite and fight against Indian Empire and Indian colonialism.

  13. Son of Lanka Says:

    Quote : This prompted Liu Zongyi, a researcher from the Shanghai Institute for International Studies to say “Modi included in his Sri Lanka trip the city of Jaffna in the Tamil-majority Northern province, which in fact shows India’s interference in the country’s internal affairs”. Unquote

    Ms Waduge, what most Sri Lankans are unaware of or are indifferent to is the fact that on this particular visit, Modi chose to address all his public meetings outside Jaffna in English but opted to speak in Hindi at his only public meeting at Jaffna.
    What could have been the intended message he was sending out by his deliberate choice of language in Jaffna ?

    Was he informing the Indian people that he perceives the people of Jaffna as being a part of India, since all his public speeches in India, including Tamil Nadu, are delivered in Hindi ? At present the support for Sri Lankan Tamils is primarily from the inhabitants of Tamil Nadu. A theory has been floated that in order to expand this support base in India, Modi is trying to convert the issue from being a ‘Tamil’ (ethnic) problem to being a ‘Hindu’ (religious) problem.

    Or, was he informing the Jaffna people that they are as close to his heart as the Indian people ?

    Or, was he showing the ‘middle finger’ to MR & his Government ?

  14. Ananda-USA Says:

    Sri Lanka wants to reduce China’s stake in strategic port deal
    Mon, Mar 27, 2017, 07:23 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.

    Mar 27 (Reuters) Sri Lanka’s government wants a Chinese company to agree to cut its stake in a strategic port project by up to a quarter, as part of a renegotiation aimed at blunting public and political opposition to the deal.

    After signing an agreement in December, state-run China Merchants Port Holdings had been expected to pay $1.12 billion for a 99-year lease on an 80 percent stake in Sri Lanka’s southern Hambantota port – part of Beijing’s ambitious plans to create a modern-day “Silk Road” across Asia.

    But the deal – and the Chinese investment that Sri Lanka needs to ease a mounting debt crisis – has been delayed by legal and political obstacles on a related project: the development of a nearby 15,000-acre industrial zone.

    In a draft agreement seen by Reuters, the Chinese firm would still hold a majority in the port, but would agree to divest up to a 20 percent stake to a Sri Lankan company after 10 years.

    China has already spent almost $2 billion on Hambantota, mostly on the port close to the busy East-West shipping route and on a new airport. It plans to spend much more.

    The industrial zone and the port are expected to bring in more than $6 billion in five years.

    The amended deal comes after the project was delayed amid protests by trade unions, landowners and political opposition led by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa and some current coalition government ministers.

    In January, hundreds of protesters refused to vacate their land and clashed with police at the opening of the industrial zone – the first violent opposition to Chinese investment in Sri Lanka.

    “There were some concerns about ownership. We were able to negotiate with the Chinese company successfully,” said Ranga Kalansooriya, head of the government’s Information Department. “The Chinese firm said they want the controlling share… even if it was 51 percent.”

    Officials from China Merchants Port were not available for comment outside regular business hours, but a person familiar with the deal, who did not want to be identified as nothing has yet been announced publicly, said the Chinese firm has been informed of the stake reduction.

    Sri Lanka needs to unlock the port development so it can begin to earn revenue which can be used to repay debts.

    Last week, Sri Lanka’s central bank governor said money coming in from the Chinese deal was crucial for boosting the island nation’s reserves.

    Sri Lanka is battling a twin debt and balance of payments crisis – partly due to heavy commercial loans mainly from China to revitalise war-hit infrastructure, and the flow of money out of the country as foreign investors sold government securities in the wake of U.S. Federal Reserve monetary tightening.

  15. Fran Diaz Says:

    We agree with Ananda’s entry on 27th March at 8.58 am.

    Thank you, Ananda !

    ——–

    Also, please Add two Amendments to Sri Lanka Constitution :

    * SRI LANKA PORTS (SEA & AIR) FOR PEACEFUL PURPOSES ONLY.
    This Amendment must apply to leased out Ports, Sea & Air.

    * NO Sale of LAND/NO LONG LEASES to Foreigners, unless approved through Parliament and a Referendum.

    ——–

    In the end, Yahap folk are being forced to take the LONG route to common sense Governance.

  16. Christie Says:

    https://www.facebook.com/AssociationOfAfricanStudentsInIndia/videos/1243235529100482/

    This what India and Indian will do to us. billions against few millions.

  17. Christie Says:

    “At present the support for Sri Lankan Tamils is primarily from the inhabitants of Tamil Nadu”

    Dear Son of Lanka I assume you are a Sinhalese.

    Where did you get this idea from. All Indians support Indian terrorists (LTTE) as well as Sinhala terrorists (JVP) in India and all over the world.

    It has been the case since Indians started arriving in the island with the British.

  18. Fran Diaz Says:

    The CONSTITUTION & the LAW in Lanka has to be obeyed.

    Otherwise, it is Kaputs time for Lanka.

    That is why Wimal Weerawansa is doing his FASTING PROTEST – to make sure that the GoSL goes with the LAW and does not interfere with the LAW of the LAND.

    The LAW is there to make sure that Lanka is NOT neo-COLONISED, Divided and Crashed to the ground.
    Yahap appears to be breaking the LAW, starting with the ‘CRASH & SELL’ program of the Central Bank Bond scam and continuing with the unlawful arrests/harrassment/accusations of PATRIOTIC CITIZENS OF LANKA.

  19. Fran Diaz Says:

    We hasten to add that the 13-A is NOT a part of the Law of the Land as it is ILLEGAL (forced uner Duress and therefore illegal, on the pro-west JRJ govt in 1987 – Cold War times).

    ALL relevant factors must be brought together to make the ‘Democratic Cake’ so that all can live together in relative peace & prosperity.

    If Lankans get their act together, INDIA and other “overly eager to own Lanka” countries will hopefully leave us alone.

    Tamil leaders : Join us as PATRIOTS OF SRI LANKA !

  20. bandara Says:

    to resist indian bullying and threats sri lanka should become a nuclear power.even by borrowing old missiles from kim jong.what will happen if sri lanka borrow few nuclear missiles from kim jong and keep them installed aiming at bully boys and bully girls home towns?sri lanka govt should make a good friend out of kimjong so that we can borrow nuclear missiles whenever sri lanka need. 2nd option is to give them the same medicine that indians had given to us. that is terrorism. what will happenif sri lanka harbor all sort of terrorists who are working against india such as ISIS pakistanis, kasmir militants,al quida, mujahideens, maoists etc? that is one of possible weapon against the bloody bully. third option is banning industrial and agricultural products from india. there are no buyers other than sri lankan to buy shoddy indian industrial products. if we can stop buying these shoddy products such as bajajs , tatas , marutis etc india has no any other place to export except few cars and buses to poor african countries. anyway sri lankan leaders should stop putting the tail between the legs when indians threat. indians nature is that. if you show that you are a coward they will take the advantage.but if you fight back they will stop. that is the indians nature.

  21. Fran Diaz Says:

    Joining the Weapons Race is an endless waste of funds.

    There are wiser and more lasting ways to make sure that Sri Lanka is safe and better for all.

  22. Lorenzo Says:

    Bandara and Fran,

    You are at 2 EXTREMES. They will NOT work. We need a MIDDLE APPROACH.

    NUKES are not going to make us SAFE. They make us VULNERABLE. NK is a PARIAH country and under ECONOMIC SANCTIONS. We don’t want that. Kim will NOT give away his secrets and weapons without major cost and trouble.

    Fran’s approach is TOO WEAK and exposes SL for further Endian INVASION.

  23. Fran Diaz Says:

    Anyone who wants to can contribute IDEAS on how to make Lanka a truly Democratic, Peaceful, & an Independent country. Put the IDEAS up and we can all assess whether these IDEAS are practical, and can deliver the desired results.

  24. SA Kumar Says:

    Fran Diaz

    Fully implement 13A & 6A together, our 2000 years problem will disappear over night NO short cut !!!!!

    Live & let’s live in United Sinhala island (Chignkala Theevu) for ever !!!

    Will Modaya & Sakkilia do ? NO !!!!

  25. Christie Says:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMAl-762nVM

  26. Ananda-USA Says:

    S A Kumar,

    Why is the 13A necessary?

    WHAT do you, and Tamils, LACK that the Sinhala people currently enjoy?

    ANSWER: Nothing!

    You are simply demanding 13A, so the North and East can implement a Tamils-only policy, that denies EQUAL ACCESS to non-Tamils!

    We, the Sinhala Buddhists of Sri Lanka, will NEVER ALLOW that kind of inequality. Velupillai Prabhakaran tried to get that … and FAILED because we Sinhala Buddhists would not yield to INJUSTICE and INEQUALITY.

    Wigneswaran and the TNA ELLAMISTS are now attempting to get the same thing through hoisting foreign powers onto our backs; they too will FAIL ABJECTLY.

    Prabhakaran was GREEDY, and LOST EVERYTHING!
    Wigneswaran and the TNA are GREEDY, they will LOSE EVERYTHING … even the 13A as implemented currently.

    We, the Sinhala Buddhist majority of Sri Lanka will prevail in the end, no matter what stands in the way.

    We, the Sinhala Buddhist majority of Sri Lanka will ultimately empower a Constitution in Sri Lanka WITHOUT ANY Sub-National local governments and having ONLY a National Government at the center.

    This NEW FORM OF GOVERNMENT created by the Sinhala Buddhist majority of Sri Lsnka will GUARANTEE Equal Rights and DEMAND Equal Responsibility to love, protect and foster our Motherland from ALL citizens, without regard to, or discrimination on the basis of, race, religion, language, caste, sex or wealth.

    But, we Sinhala Buddhist majority of Sri Lanka will NEVER YIELD TO or BE FOOLED BY the demand for an interim enhanced Federal System of Government in Sri Lanka that is but the NEXT STEP to the EELAM that your racist Tamil leaders are working towards using every devious strategy!

    We WILL NEVER YIELD, come HELL or HIGH WATER!

  27. Lorenzo Says:

    Fran,

    DEMOCRACY, PEACE and INDEPENDENCE are MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE concepts.

    All 3 cannot be ENHANCED at the same time.

  28. SA Kumar Says:

    Ananda-USA

    Why this kolaveri My Chignkala sakotharam???

    NB/ you missed out fully implement 6A as well !!!!!

    NO short cut & no more or no less !!!!

    live & let’s live for ever Sinhala Buddhists & Saiva Thamilar in United Mother Lanka !!!!

  29. Fran Diaz Says:

    Hello Kumar,
    You are back !
    To answer to your response :

    13-A & 6-A contradict each other. How can these two laws co-exist ? The 13-A enhances Separatism whilst the 6-A says arrest those who push for Separatism.

    Besides, the 13-A is ILLEGAL as it was imposed under Duress on the JRJ Govt in 1987 by INDIA. It is also a divisive piece of legislation.
    We want it removed.

    ———–

    Lorenzo,

    The three concepts are not mutually exclusive if there is PATRIOTISM toward the country that nurtures us.
    There is no need to enhance the three concepts, only have LAWS in place to safeguard the Country so that people can move around fairly freely without the risk of getting their heads chopped off.

  30. Lorenzo Says:

    Fran,

    NO. They are mutually exclusive.

    In the past SL had INDEPENDENCE, PEACE and PATRIOTISM but NOT DEMO-CRAZY.

    When threatened by Tamils, SL went to WAR (not peace) to protect INDEPENDENCE.

    But they can REINFORCE each other IF used with WAR or a MILITARY ALLIANCE with Pakistan and China (as we had during the war).

  31. Fran Diaz Says:

    No More War. Lanka was forced into the last War.
    In the Future : War is not an Option.

    Our military ought to be for Peaceful purposes to protect the Country, and also help other countries in dire need, if possible.
    Stopping illegal migrants will also stop wars.
    Giving free birth control material so that the Man : Land ratio is maintained will stop future internal strife.
    There is a Climate Change Crisis brewing, and the Lanka Military will be needed to counter that.

    Wars are old fashioned, archaic, and counter productive to happiness in Human Life.
    If Wars must be declared, it must be on stopping Climate Change, Environmental damage, and a host of other things affecting health and wellbeing for all human beings and life in general.

  32. SA Kumar Says:

    Fran Diaz
    13-A & 6-A contradict each other- NO ,Not at all . this is similar to Indian Union state lawS ( Union states law & 16A).
    both law counter balance each other .
    Both need to be implement together other wise it will lead to our 2000 year old day dream than end up in Mulli Vaikal!

  33. Ananda-USA Says:

    Fran,

    If the Yamapalana plot to create ethno-religious Bantustans is successful, a WAR will INEVITABLY FOLLOW as the Tamil Separatists dig up their hidden arms and revive the EELAM STRUGGLE with using the ten thousand ‘rehabilitated’ LTTE cadre.

    If Wigneswaran and the TNA is not STOPPED NOW from implementing their designs to acquire police and land powers in nearly independent Northern and Eastern Provinces, this is INEVITABLE!

    Their PLAN is to PRECIPITATE such a war, and engineer sufficient number of civilian deaths, so as to get foreign powers to INTERVENE on their behalf, and CARVE out an EELAM for them from Sri Lanka.

    If the Sinhala Buddhists don’t forget their differences and join together to OUST the Yamapalana and RESTORE a PATRIOTIC government NOW, this is what will happen!

  34. Fran Diaz Says:

    Ananda,

    Yes, agree that the Sinhala people and Others who love Lanka must unite to guard the country in every way, always.

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