Sri Lanka Should Team-up with
the Regional Superpower, not with Fifth Ranked India
Dilrook Kannangara
It should not surprise anybody that India has attempted to block Chinese
and Pakistani defence involvement in Sri Lanka, abstained from providing
useful military equipment to SL and reinstate that India should be our
preferred weapons supplier in spite for its lethargy. It is pathetic
that India is stuck in an internal political deadlock that whitewashed
the killing of one of its prime ministers and that belittle Indias
position in the region. What should we do in regard to our apathetic
neighbour?
We should team up with China and Pakistan. There are many reasons to
do so.
China is the Asian superpower and it is a permanent member of the UN
Security Council capable of making decisions (and vetoing decisions)
that affect the world. On the other hand India does not have any such
influence.
India is ranked fifth among Asian superpowers even though it is a nuclear
power. Japan and South Korea are ranked ahead of India in terms of defence
expenditure. Although Saudi Arabia is just behind India, a large chunk
of Indias defence expenditure is salaries and wages for its huge
army. In terms of fighting capability and weapons Saudi Arabia should
be ranked ahead of India. There is no way we can disregard the real
super powers in the region.
Considering the power balance between China and India, China has proven
dominance over India. During the 1962 war, irrespective of Russian backing,
India lost its territory to China.
Chinese presence has permeated into our friendly nations in the region
especially Pakistan. The importance of Pakistan cannot be underestimated
as it is our largest military equipment supplier and it has helped us
when we were desperate. China has already built naval co-operation with
Pakistan including a base. It also tries hard to dominate the Indian
Ocean which is strategically important to its regional dominance. In
this context, we cannot disregard the Chinese aspirations over the Indian
Ocean region.
India has a stake in the Sri Lankan conflict. Not only it was instrumental
in kindling the LTTE, but it has come to the rescue of the LTTE so many
times. With the Indian government heavily dependant upon Tamil Nadu
politicians who worship the LTTE, it is unlikely that India will support
any move against the LTTE. Getting help from India is akin to the old
adage: asking for evidence from the thiefs mother.
Warding-off possible unwelcomed Indian interference is another avenue
where China can help us, if we harbour a Chinese interest in our country.
We need long term planning for defence equipment and consumables and
should have permanent and dependable suppliers, not the kind that changes
their minds for petty political reasons. Also there is the possibility
that Chinese suppliers may be interested in selling T-56, APMs and other
devices to the LTTE; in fact the LTTE do use a lot of T-56s and Chinese
manufactured APMs. A defence pact with China would lead to a moratorium
of weapons sales to LTTE related parties.
If the conflict remains unsettled for another long period of time, we
run the risk of even wider international interference with our affairs.
Therefore, it is of paramount importance that the LTTE is exterminated
quickly. Given the Indian interest in Tamil affairs in Sri Lanka, we
should resist from devolving too much power to regional/provincial areas
in any political solution. We do not want another episode
of Vardarajah Perumals adventures.
We should also resist Indian architected political solutions,
including Official Languages matters. Island wide spread of the use
of the Tamil language has the adverse effect of identifying linguistic
resemblance with South India. We do not want to be an Indian colony,
neither we want to be part of Dravidistan. Ultimately our aim should
be to allow India to handle the issue of the Tamil Nation in Tamil Nadu.
It is a fact that almost all Tamil cultural productions still originate
from TN and TN is the home to more than 55 million Tamils. It is nothing
but fair that TN becomes the much anticipated Tamil Nation.
We should appreciate that India will do anything to keep their conflict
away from its domain; if it were so concerned with the Tamil Nation,
it ought to have allowed its formation in TN. A land mass the size of
just 20,000 square kilometres cannot become the homeland of 60 million
Tamils!
|