The Health Ministry says that another 238 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 today, as the daily count of new cases continues to rise in the country.
This brings the tally of Covid-19 cases registered in the country thus far to 657,791.
According to official figures, 624,592 positive cases have recovered.
Following the new development, the number of virus-infected people who are undergoing treatment moved to 16,943.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of Health Services confirmed 04 new coronavirus-related deaths for March 18, pushing the country’s death toll from the pandemic to 16,426.
According to the figures released by the Department of Govt. Information, all the victims confirmed today are females who are in the age group of 60 years and above.
Twice-postponed Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s visit to New Delhi took place finally to secure a US $ 1 billion credit line to purchase essentials – food items and pharmaceuticals for dollar-starved Sri Lanka.
India offered such assistance for Sri Lanka to stave off food and fuel shortages. The latest engagements herald the elevation of Indo-Lanka bilateral economic ties to new heights. The US $ 1 billion credit line for essentials and another US $ 500 million credit arrangement for fuel purchases serve as a lifeline to the ailing Sri Lankan economy with people idling for hours on end for buying petroleum products and domestic gas cylinders. With the freeing up of exchange rate, the rupee value has drastically dropped against the US dollar resulting in the spikes of imported items. Supermarket shelves have been stripped bare of milk powder.
Any credit facility from a friendly country matters a lot at a crisis time of this nature. Be that as it may, there is nothing called ‘free lunch’ in international affairs. It is nothing but the pursuit of each other’s interests. In diplomatic parlance, it may be called ‘win-win’ cooperation.
Sri Lanka had to reciprocate to benefit from the Indian offer. As such, ahead of the Finance Minister’s visit, the two countries rushed to sign agreements that will give a vital stake for India in the power and energy sector of Sri Lanka. Those Indian interests in Sri Lanka have remained for a long time, and can even be traced back to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in 2017 under the previous Yahapalana government. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka in 2015, he spoke of a petroleum hub in Trincomalee.
One of the agreements signed ahead of the Finance Minister’s is a Joint Venture and Shareholders’ Agreement (JVSHA) for the Trincomalee Power Company Ltd (TPCL). The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd from India and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) will develop a 100MW solar power plant at Sampur in Trincomalee. It is a strategically important project for India envisaged in the 2017 MoU. It never took off the ground, though.
Any credit facility from a friendly country matters a lot at a crisis time of this nature. Be that as it may, there is nothing called’ free lunch’ in international affairs. It is nothing but the pursuit of each other’s interests. In diplomatic parlance, it may be called ‘win-win’ cooperation
Another agreement is to develop a 500 MW wind power project in Mannar by Adani Group, a leading company that enjoys the full backing of the Indian government. The company, in partnership with John Keells Holdings and Sri Lanka Ports Authority, has secured the contract to develop the West Container Terminal of the Colombo Port. Now, the Indian company will increase its reach to the northern region of Sri Lanka. The north and the east are the areas where India has strategic interests which it will never compromise no matter what.
Ahead of the 2019 presidential elections, with the sign of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa winning, analysts of international affairs believed that the incoming regime would get closer to China, much to the consternation of the western world and India. Even India would have been worried about such a predicament of Sri Lanka getting drawn into the sphere of Beijing’s influence. But, things turned out to be otherwise.
But, right at the beginning, the key interlocutors of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government’s foreign policy, empathized that it would have an India- first security policy. The new government handpicked Milinda Moragoda to serve as Sri Lankan High Commissioner to New Delhi. He even presented a roadmap for the development of ties with India. The energy sector development and grid connectivity are two of the points highlighted in the report. Now, mutual trust that suffered after Sri Lanka’s unilateral abrogation of the agreement to develop the East Container Terminal of the Colombo Port has been restored with the recent initiatives.
Today, in the government, it is the writ of the Finance Minister applied across the board. He is calling the shots in a big way. He was instrumental in removing MPs Wimal Weerawansa and Udaya Gammanpila from their posts. He has his say in the conduct of economic affairs with other countries.
He played his part in bringing New Fortress Energy of the United States to invest in LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) in Sri Lanka. Now, he has done his part giving wide scope for India in the economic activities of Sri Lanka in terms of bilateral investments in a move to blunt allegations that there is only Chinese presence in Sri Lanka as far as Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) are concerned.
In recent times, there is lackluster performance on the part of the government in wooing investments from China. In fact, Sri Lanka was entangled in a commercial dispute with China over the rejection of the fertilizer stock supplied by Chinese company Qingdao Seawin Biotech Company.
Daily Mirror reliably learns that some investment proposals submitted by key Chinese companies with international acclaim have not been considered by the government. The question that arises in the minds of many: is the finance minister trying to reset Sri Lanka’s international relations with a more focus on India and the western world?
The answer is obvious given the minister’s political ideology. He is ambitious to be the next leader. He believes India is a country that understands Sri Lankan politics and has influence over it more than any other country in the world. As such, it may be his belief that the accommodation of India on board will help realize his political ambitions. Also, he may be contemplating on keeping pressure from the western world at bay by trying to project Sri Lanka as a country open for them, but not solely for China. Nevertheless, it is impossible for Sri Lanka to attract substantial foreign exchange in items of FDIs without China. So, the country has to walk a tight diplomatic rope without compromising its relations with any country, be it India, US, or China.
Colombo Port City in Sri Lanka, December 21, 2021. /Xinhua
Sri Lanka is mired in a financial crisis as the COVID-19 pandemic hammered the country’s tourism sector and led to a foreign currency shortage. Some Indian media have taken the chance to revive an old accusation of a “China debt trap” to slander China-Sri Lanka economic cooperation while ignoring plain facts.
“Although the proportion of loans from China increased from two percent in 2008 to nine percent in 2017, it accounted for about 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt,” Fu Xiaoqiang, vice president at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, wrote in a commentary on China Daily.
International sovereign bonds made up the lion’s share, 36.4 percent, of Sri Lanka’s external debt then. China ranked the fourth largest debt holder behind the Asian Development Bank and Japan. International agencies like the World Bank and countries, including India, owned the rest of the debt.
Fu said that Sri Lanka encountered a considerable foreign currency shortage as 60 percent of its debt requires payment in dollars.
“A drop in foreign reserves is an important factor in exacerbating the debt payment pressure of the country,” Fu explained.
“China has been providing assistance for Sri Lanka’s socio-economic development as its capability allows, and will continue to do so going forward,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said earlier this month.
With the efforts and solidarity of the Sri Lankan government and people, the country is likely to overcome the temporary difficulties soon and embrace even greater development, Zhao added.
India’s suspicion about China’s and Sri Lanka’s economic cooperation results from a zero-sum game mentality, Liu Ying, director of the cooperative research department of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told CGTN.
In fact, the economic development of Sri Lanka will only make the Indian market more attractive as global supply chains become more regionalized and digitalized during the pandemic, said Liu.
Colombo Port City is among the Belt and Road Initiative projects with Chinese investment in Sri Lanka. PwC, a consultancy, estimates the project will create $12 billion worth of value addition annually during the operational stage.
“Cooperation will create win-win results, especially during the digital economy era,” Liu said.
Poor infrastructure in developing countries is an obstacle for development as it makes trade with the overseas markets more difficult, she said.
Fu said the “Belt and Road” project provides opportunities rather than a trap for countries along the route.
If the loans they borrow can help them build infrastructure, improve the investment environment and create jobs, that’s good lending, he said.
Such loans can vitalize their economies and help pay back debts when they prosper, he added.
SJB slams Rajapaksa govt. for pampering PM Modi’s notorious friends”
The Adani Group’s back door” entry into Sri Lanka’s energy sector disrupts the country’s competitive electricity generation system, the Opposition has said, accusing the Rajapaksa government of pampering” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s notorious friends”.
It is with deep regret that we note that the Adani Group has chosen the back door to enter Sri Lanka. Avoiding competition is not something we take kindly. It hurts our battered economy, aggravates the balance of payment issues, and causes further misery to our citizens,” said Ajith P. Perera, chief executive of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB or United People’s Force), Sri Lanka’s largest opposition party.
The statement follows a recent agreement signed by India’s Adani Group to set up two renewable energy projects in Mannar and Pooneryn, in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which official sources confirmed was signed on March 11, 2022, has drawn attention, also for the apparent secrecy around it.
The development came to light only after Sri Lankan newspapers reported on the deal, quoting officials in Colombo. The agreement for two-large scale renewable energy projects, with an estimated investment of $ 500 million, had been inked the same day the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of India formalised an agreement with Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), to jointly set up a solar power plant in Sampur, in Sri Lanka’s eastern Trincomalee district. However, the agreement involving the Adani Group was not made public by either side.
PM Modi may have given us crucial financial assistance during our current economic crisis, but that doesn’t mean our renewable energy sector’s most valuable lands and resources can be stolen for his friend Adani…The [Rajapaksa] government has many decent ways to thank PM Modi rather than pampering his notorious friends,” Mr. Perera said, adding that a global player like Adani would be most welcome” through proper channels.
A former State Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, Mr. Perera said that over the years, Sri Lanka had gained a good handle” on renewable energy development, establishing a robust competitive system” to gain the best value from private investments.
The bidding rounds run by the state-owned CEB paid off handsomely, realising 4.00 US Cents/kWh for small 10MW scale solar projects, and 6.50 US Cents/kWh for similar sized wind projects during my time in office (2015-2019). The pinnacle of renewable energy development was the realisation of 4.85 US Cents/kWh in the 100MW Mannar wind power project developed by the CEB.”
‘Violation of law’
SJB parliamentarian and economist Harsha de Silva said the agreement violated Sri Lanka’s energy laws, especially the Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Act of 2013 that mandates competitive bidding for all electricity generation.
The Mannar basin has one of the best energy yields. Giving it to an investor outside of a competitive process is a clear violation. We are talking about 500 MW in one of our best locations,” he told The Hindu.
The CEB has not yet responded to The Hindu’s request for a comment.
The recent renewable energy deals in northern Sri Lanka come months after Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani visited Sri Lanka and met President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and discussed possible investment in the island nation’s energy sector, coinciding with Colombo’s thrust on clean energy. The projects in northern Sri Lanka are the group’s second major investment in Sri Lanka, following the West Container Terminal (WCT) Project at the Colombo Port, where it holds majority stakes.
Even in the WCT project formalised in September 2021, or the earlier intergovernmental East Container Terminal project that it replaced, the Adani Group entered as a nominee” of the Government of India, and not through a competitive bid, sparking questions about due process.
Country seeks IMF bailout to deal with worst debt crisis in decades.
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has cancelled exams for millions of students as the country has run out of printing paper and is short on dollars to finance imports, officials said on Saturday.
Education authorities said the tests, scheduled for March 28, would be postponed indefinitely due to an acute paper shortage as the country contends with its worst financial crisis since independence in 1948.
School principals cannot hold the tests as printers are unable to secure foreign exchange to import necessary paper and ink,” the Department of Education of the Western Province said.
Official sources said the move could effectively hold up tests for around two thirds of the country’s 4.5 million students.
Term tests are part of a continuous assessment process to decide if students are promoted to the next grade at the end of the year.
A debilitating economic crisis brought on by a shortage of foreign-exchange reserves to finance essential imports, has resulted in the country running low on food, fuel and pharmaceuticals.
The cash-strapped nation of 22 million announced this week that it will seek an IMF bailout to resolve its worsening foreign debt crisis and shore up external reserves.
ADVERTISEMENThttps://c96017b82567cffd7d1653afadc5ff07.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.htmlThe International Monetary Fund on Friday confirmed it was considering President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s surprise request to discuss a bailout.
Around $6.9 billion of Colombo’s debt needs to be serviced this year but its foreign currency reserves stood at about $2.3 billion at the end of February.
Long queues have formed across the country for groceries and oil with the government instituting rolling electricity blackouts and rationing of milk powder, sugar, lentils and rice.
Sri Lanka earlier this year asked China, one of its main creditors, to help put off debt payments but there has been no official response yet from Beijing.
The China-backed Hambantota International Port was promoted by former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of the incumbent, to spur economic development in his home district, and against the advice of critics who warned against heavy borrowing to build it. The site had few users in its first few years of operation.
Struggling to pay back over $8 billion in Chinese loans and investments, the government in 2017 handed over an 85% stake in the port complex to a Chinese state-owned company on a 99-year lease to raise $1.2 billion.
Work is now nearly complete on expanded facilities that are expected to start attracting more business later this year.
Envoys of the United States and several other key nations in the west, as well as Japan on Friday, called on Sri Lanka to join in active support against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In a joint statement, the ambassadors and high commissioners to Sri Lanka urged the island nation to raise vocal support” for Ukraine, international law, including the United Nations charter.
We urge Sri Lanka to join us in calling on Russia to end it hostilities immediately.”
The statement was issued by the head of the delegation of the European Union, high commissioners of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and the ambassadors of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Japan, Rumania, Switzerland and the United States.
We will work together with our friends and allies around the world to ensure that the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine is restored. We stand with Ukraine; and for freedom, democracy, and the sovereignty of nations around the world,” the envoys said.
The envoys condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an unprovoked, unjust and illegal attack on a peaceful, democratic and sovereign state. This outrageous attack is a gross violation of international law, including the UN charter.”
The statement slammed Russia for dramatically escalating its attacks on civilian neighbourhoods and infrastructure, leading to large numbers of civilian casualties. Millions of ordinary civilians – mainly women, children and older persons – have been forced to flee from their homes into neighbouring countries as refugees, making it the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the last 70 years, it read further.
Russia threatens the fundamental principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that underpin peace and security around the world, the representatives to Sri Lanka stressed.
The statement also read: We stand united in condemnation of the Russian government’s attacks on Ukraine. In the UN General Assembly on 2 March, 141 countries – an overwhelming majority – voted to condemn Russia’s invasion. This demonstrates Russia’s utmost isolation from the international community. Countries supporting Ukraine have imposed an unprecedented package of targeted sanctions to inflict heavy cost on Russia. These aim to degrade Russia’s capacity to pursue its attacks against Ukraine, and to press Russia to withdraw from hostilities. We have seen organisations from banks to oil companies, to football leagues, make it clear that Putin’s actions have consequences and his regime can no longer be part of the international community.”
It said the friends and allies of Ukraine have committed significant levels of economic and humanitarian assistance with many countries opening their boarders to Ukrainian families fleeing the war.
The envoys also accused Russia of promoting false narratives as a pretext for invasion.
The Russian government has conducted an aggressive disinformation campaign against Ukraine in a spurious attempt to justify its invasion. There is no justification for Russia’s campaign to subvert its democratic neighbours. Russia falsely accuses NATO of provocation. NATO is, and always has been, a defensive alliance, and poses no threat to Russia.”
The presidents of the two countries have held talks discussing the hottest international and bilateral issues.
China’s President Xi Jinping urged his US counterpart Joe Biden to engage in talks with Russia to address the reasons behind the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, stressing it should be resolved through diplomacy. The two presidents held talks via a video link on Friday, discussing various international and bilateral issues. The talks were held at the request” of Washington, China’s Foreign Ministry noted in a statement.
China’s leader stressed that Beijing has always stood for peace and opposes war,” urging all the parties involved in the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev to stick to diplomacy.
All sides need to jointly support Russia and Ukraine in having dialogue and negotiation that will produce results and lead to peace,” the Chinese statement issued after the talks reads. At the same time, President Xi told Biden that the ongoing crisis should be addressed on another level as well.
The US and NATO should also have dialogue with Russia to address the crux of the Ukraine crisis and ease the security concerns of both Russia and Ukraine.
Biden, for his part, underscored his support for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis,” warning Beijing of the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia,” a brief readout of the talks released by the White House reads. Both Moscow and Beijing have denied Russia had ever sought help from China amid the ongoing offensive in Ukraine, refuting media reports suggesting so.Read more Russia’s divorce from the West has pushed it into China’s arms, here’s how it will work
Biden and Xi also discussed the outstanding issues in the bilateral ties of their countries, with China’s Foreign Ministry and the White House producing somewhat contradicting accounts of the statements made by the two leaders during the talks.
President Xi pointed out that the China-US relationship, instead of getting out of the predicament created by the previous US administration, has encountered a growing number of challenges,” the Chinese statement reads, blaming the current situation” in the bilateral ties onto some people on the US side” who have not followed through on the important common understanding reached by the two presidents.”
Biden reiterated that the US does not seek a new Cold War with China; it does not aim to change China’s system; the revitalization of its alliances is not targeted at China; the US does not support ‘Taiwan independence’; and it has no intention to seek a conflict with China,” the statement reads.Read more China declares position on Ukraine conflict
The White House, however, said that Biden only reiterated that US policy on Taiwan has not changed, and emphasized that the United States continues to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo.”
Taiwan has been one of the main issues in US-China relations for years already. Beijing considers the island as an integral part of its territory, yet it has not governed Taiwan for decades, as it became the last stronghold of nationalist forces during the Chinese civil war.
At the same time, Taiwan has enjoyed a cozy relationship with the US, particularly in military cooperation, which Beijing regards as a breach of the One China policy, which America recognizes. China has repeatedly accused Washington of meddling in its internal affairs and of fueling separatist” sentiments on the island. Both the US and China have repeatedly flexed military muscle near the island, with Beijing frequently staging massive drills near it, as well as sending in large air and naval forces into areas claimed by Taiwan as its sovereign territory.
Kiev initially claimed Russian bombs had killed more than 1,000 people, but local officials now say otherwise
More than 200 civilians have been rescued unharmed from the bombed Mariupol Drama Theater, in Ukraine, and one injured woman has been taken to hospital, the local deputy mayor told reporters on Friday. Initial claims from Kiev estimated that over 1,000 people may have been killed in what they alleged was a Russian airstrike.
Ukrainian media announced on Wednesday that the Drama Theater – located on the main square of the city – had been struck by the Russian air force while civilians were sheltering inside. The declaration was widely amplified by Westerners on social media.
By Thursday morning, however, reports switched to saying that those civilians had survived, with a journalist from expat journal the Kyiv Independent calling it a miracle.”
On Friday, Deputy Mayor Sergey Orlov told Human Rights Watch that more than 200 people have so far been rescued from the rubble unharmed, but one woman had been taken to hospital with injuries. Earlier in the day, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, Lyudmila Denisova, told reporters that some 1,300 civilians had been trapped inside.
Responding to the Ukrainian accusations on Wednesday, the Russian military said none of its planes had carried out any ground attacks in Mariupol that day, and the theater had not in any case been on its list of targets.
Previously, it was known from the refugees who got out of Mariupol that the Nazis of the Azov Battalion might be holding civilians hostage in the theater building, using the upper floors as firing points,” military spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said at the time. He added that what he described as reliable information” from locals had indicated that the militants might have blown up the building to try to pin the blame for any civilian deaths on Russia.
Russia says Mariupol is the stronghold of Azov, the notorious Ukrainian militia that uses as its emblems Waffen-SS symbols and other iconography of Nazi Germany. The city has been surrounded by Russian regular troops and those of the Donetsk People’s Republic, a breakaway region Moscow recognized as independent in February.
Moscow attacked its neighbor in late February, following a seven-year standoff over Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the status of those regions within the Ukrainian state.
Russia has now demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
Moscow has deployed Kinzhal missiles for the first time since the start of its military operation.
The Russian military has said it used its state-of-the-art Kinzhal hypersonic missiles to destroy an arms depot near the city of Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine.
The strike with the air-launched missile system took place on Friday, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said during a briefing.
It targeted a large underground depot of missiles and aerial munitions of the Ukrainian forces” in the village of Deliatyn, he added.
Kinzhal, which means ‘dagger’ in English, was used by the Russian military for the first time since the start of the Ukrainian conflict on February 24.
Kinzhal missiles are carried by MiG-31K supersonic interceptor aircraft, which NATO calls ‘Foxhound’.
The hardware is one of several hypersonic systems prepared for the country’s military in recent years, together with the Avangard glider, which is fitted on silo-based ICBMs, and Zircon (Tsirkon) missiles, developed for the navy.
Moscow sent its troops into Ukraine last month following a seven-year standoff over Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the breakaway Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols had been designed to regularize the status of those regions within the Ukrainian state.
Russia has now demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
Beijing is the only major power to benefit from Moscow’s conflict with Kiev
Russia’s military operation in Ukraine and the consequent economic embargo of Moscow by the West is the largest upheaval in world politics since at least the end of the Cold War. The result will be a complete reformatting of the country’s foreign economic relations and its economic model, as well as Russia and the US sinking into a protracted military-political confrontation in Eastern Europe.
Both factors will have a direct impact on the situation in East Asia amidst a gradually growing confrontation between China and Washington there. As a result of standing on the sidelines of the crisis and calling on the parties to show restraint, Beijing will be the only world center of power to benefit from the Ukrainian catastrophe in the long run. It is possible that the events in Ukraine will predestine China’s success in opposing the United States.
China’s position on the Ukrainian crisis
The Chinese position on the Ukrainian crisis was expressed to the fullest in a telephone conversation between its Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a number of his European colleagues. In brief, it boils down to five points:
China believes it is necessary to protect and respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries.
China stands for common, sustainable, comprehensive security. The security of some countries cannot be enhanced at the expense of others by strengthening or expanding military blocs. Given the five waves of NATO expansion, Russia’s legitimate security demands must be taken seriously and properly responded to.
China is closely monitoring the situation in Ukraine and what is happening there is not what it would like to see. The parties must exercise restraint, avoid escalation, and prevent a humanitarian crisis and the death of civilians.
China supports any diplomatic efforts that could lead to a peaceful solution of the Ukrainian crisis. China welcomes direct dialogue between Russia and Ukraine. The Ukrainian issue has a complex historical context. Ukraine should be a bridge between East and West, not a line of confrontation between great powers. China also supports EU-Russian dialogue on European security.
The UN Security Council should play a constructive role in resolving the Ukrainian crisis and avoid actions that could exacerbate points of contention.
China has expressed its regret over the ongoing tragedy, and welcomes any negotiations leading to peace. This is the rhetoric traditionally heard from Beijing regarding conflicts and crises in which it is not involved. The Xi Jiping government has avoided condemning Russia, while leveling veiled criticism at the West for NATO expansion and its unwillingness to listen to Moscow’s security concerns.
Chinese officials are not calling Russia’s actions in Ukraine an ‘invasion’. Its state media does not publish materials that present Moscow and its president in a negative light. In the Chinese blogosphere, Vladimir Putin, as well as his actions and rhetoric connected with the Ukrainian operation, are met with wide approval by nationalist-minded people who draw parallels between this situation and China’s relationship with Taiwan.
Despite widespread speculation that Beijing, as Russia’s only remaining friendly major trading partner, could put pressure on Moscow to conclude a peace agreement as soon as possible, there is no indication that Beijing has even considered doing so.Read more Beijing rebukes Washington’s threat over Russia sanctions
China has taken a position of neutrality that is friendly to Russia concerning the conflict. Representatives of the country’s Foreign Ministry and the Chinese banking regulator have repeatedly stressed their intention to fully maintain relations with Russia despite the situation.
During the UN Security Council vote on the Ukrainian crisis China abstained, electing not to support the Russian veto. But it did the same during the Crimean crisis. In principle, China cannot recognize precedents that support changing the status of territories based on referendums (as happened in the Crimea, Lugansk and Donetsk Republics) since this will affect the Taiwan problem. It should also be noted that Russia does not recognize and does not support the Chinese position in its territorial dispute with India, or Chinese claims in the South China and East China Seas.
American statements about having ‘discussions’ with China about the situation surrounding Ukraine and even of China giving some consideration to Westent sanctions are divorced from reality. This is not the first time this situation has occurred. In 2014, President Barack Obama tried to convince the Chinese not to conclude an agreement with Russia on the construction of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, which was nonetheless signed in May of the same year.
Economic cooperation
As in the previous stages of the Ukrainian crisis, Chinese companies and banks operating on the world market should take into account the possible negative impact of US and EU sanctions. In this respect, they do not differ from the businesses of any other country. However, the Chinese typically exhibit an acute fear of falling under punitive American measures, which leads them to a wide interpretation of sanctions.
Therefore, regardless of the position of the Chinese government, sanctions have always had a certain negative impact on Russian-Chinese cooperation. In addition, the shock effect from the disruption of usual payment mechanisms, production chains, and logistics in the coming months will inevitably manifest itself. Businesses will have to find new ways of operating.
At the same time, the parties have so far carried out significant work to put a secure infrastructure in place to ensure bilateral trade, and such efforts have continued until very recently. In 2020, the share of the ruble in bilateral trade reached 7 percent, and the yuan – 17 percent. China is striving to internationalize its currency, and it can now be used for settlements between non-residents of the country.
Preparing for a tough conflict with the West, Russia has sharply increased the share of yuan in its gold and foreign exchange reserves. According to some estimates, the Bank of Russia has $140 billion worth of Chinese government bonds denominated in yuan alone. Indirectly, this may also indicate that the current volume of sanctions has been expected for a long time.
In addition, China’s CFETS trading system and the Moscow Exchange have been trading in the yuan-ruble currency pair since 2010. Thus, conditions exist for all trade between the two countries to be shifted to national currencies, mainly to the yuan, due to the volatility of the ruble.
In 2020 and 2021, China’s share of Russian trade was about 18 percent. Beijing is Moscow’s largest nation state trading partner, although the EU as a whole takes a bigger share. It was about 38 percent in 2020. Since 1999, the China’s share has been steadily rising, while the EU’s has been gradually falling since the second half of the 2000s.
If this trend were to continue, one would expect the levels of the China and the EU in Russian trade to be roughly equal in the early-mid 2030s. However, with the EU’s embargo of Russian imports, the process of reorienting to China may slightly accelerate, and China could become Russia’s main trading partner within the next two or three years. As a result, the trade between Russia and its main trading partner will be safe from external influences.
A sharp increase in Russian raw material exports to China may be constrained by lack of appropriate infrastructure, including the capacity of railways, pipelines, and port terminals. China exports mainly finished goods, which are less dependent on transport capacity.
Consequently, in the next free years, we should expect a sharp increase in Chinese exports to Russia with a more modest increase in Russian exports to China. There may be a significant imbalance in favor of Beijing in Russian-Chinese trade for some time.
In this context, the early accumulation of huge yuan reserves indicates that Russia’s authorities have been preparing for something resembling the current configuration of economic sanctions.
Beijing’s promotion to the role of the sole or main buyer of some types of Russian products and trade in exchange for yuan is likely to mean some price losses for Russian exporters. But, under the current difficult conditions, this can hardly be considered critical. With the development of new logistics, China may eventually replace the European market.
The importance of redirecting exports to China means development of the requisite infrastructure in the Far East will need to be accelerated. Given the importance of speed, it will probably have to be built with the involvement of Chinese investment and companies. Construction projects like this can give important impetus to development in the Russian regions.
The issue of expediting the conclusion of contracts for this construction will also arise, as well as the question of completing the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline (a continuation of the Power of Siberia – 2), which taps into the same raw material base as the pipelines to Western Europe, ahead of schedule.
China may have significant interest in redirecting Russian raw material exports to itself while converting it to yuan, as this will not only give Beijing numerous political and strategic benefits, but also bring it huge economic gains. In particular, China’s protection from sanctions and embargo attempts will sharply increase, the cost of acquired resources will decrease, while the role of the yuan in world trade will dramatically rise (the internationalization of the yuan is an important goal for Chinese policy).Read more Yuan deposits replace dollar and euro in Russian banks
Russia’s earlier attempts to diversify its economic ties with Asia can be considered dead after the region’s three most developed economies (Japan, South Korea, and Singapore) supported anti-Russian sanctions to varying degrees, albeit under severe pressure from the United States.
China will inevitably become the dominant partner, and it is possible that, in the near future, its share in Russian trade will be comparable to the peak values of the EU’s share at one time (more than 50 percent).
A positive point for Russia is the growth in the number of Chinese companies that have fallen under various kinds of American sanctions which occupy strong positions in mechanical engineering, information and communication technologies, and the aerospace industry. This increase in pressure from US sanctions began in 2020, and there is reason to expect that this will only grow. Sanctioned Chinese companies will not need to fear the costs of working with Russia.
Chinese partners, including those under sanctions, are capable of occupying places in many important segments of the Russian market formerly held by European and American companies. This is, first of all, in the sale and production of cars, consumer electronics, and industrial equipment in Russia. In many areas, the Chinese are quite capable of replacing Western suppliers – sometimes with a moderate loss of quality, and sometimes without.
An important area where the Chinese cannot be useful to us as of yet, where they are experiencing problems similar to ours, is the aviation industry. China, like Russia, depends on imported equipment. As in Russia, its own civil aviation programs (ARJ21, C919) are dependent on Western components and vulnerable to sanctions pressure that is already being exerted. Strengthening cooperation in replacing Western civil aircraft is an urgent issue.
Prospects for political relations
In order to somehow curb economic dependence on China, Russia will have to use the few tools at its disposal to diversify foreign trade. Nevertheless, it is obvious that, while it is facing an economic blockade by the West, Russia will have no choice but to increasingly expand political and military cooperation with Beijing.
The importance for China of Russia’s resource, technological, economic, and military potential amidst confrontation with the United States will allow Russia to avoid sinking into a clearly subordinate position in this partnership. But China will set the tone, nonetheless.
The real political goal will be to preserve the ability to restore Russia’s ‘strategic autonomy’ with a possible weakening of the embargo in the long term.
Moscow has not been involved in many disputes between Asian powers, and its policy towards Asia has been independent from China’s, except for that of generally containing the influence of the United States. Now Russia will have to protect its ties with independent players, in particular with India and Vietnam, while sacrificing its relations with US allies in the Indo-Pacific region, primarily Japan and Australia, for the sake of strengthening its partnership with China.
The negative trend that has recently emerged in Russian-Japanese relations will sharply intensify. Events like the joint patrol of Russian and Chinese fleets around Japan that took place at the end of 2021 will continue. There may be a question of coordinating the two countries’ positions in territorial disputes with Tokyo (Chinese claims to the Diaoyu /Senkaku Islands and the problem of Russia’s southern Kuril Islands).Read more Japan expands list of banned exports to Russia
As it moves to more actively promote its global initiatives and concepts of world order (Community of Common Destiny, relations between great powers in a new era, the Belt and Road initiative), China may be interested in attracting proactive support from major countries, and it is likely to receive such backing from Russia. Actually, this was already manifested in a joint Russian-Chinese declaration following Vladimir Putin’s visit to China on February 4, 2022.
China probably can’t radically ease the shock of the first months or year of the embargo for Russia – everything will depend on Russian economic policy here. In the long term, Russia’s partnership with China, along with its own industrial policy, will become the basis of a new model for Russian economic development. And, in some respects, a healthier foundation than its previous partnership with the EU. China is less attractive to the elite as a place to extract capital and then permanently relocate, and it has a more rational and predictable system for economic decision-making. Finally, the Chinese economy will grow faster than Europe’s in the foreseeable future, as well as its market demand.
China will replace the EU as our main trading partner, and a gradual reversal of trade flows to the East may become a factor in the development of Siberia and the Far East, right down to the relocation of part of the population there from the European part of the country. The negative impact of Western sanctions on Russian-Chinese cooperation will gradually weaken as China itself is drawn into the sanctions confrontation with the West. Another important factor in this will be trading in yuan.
With a rational policy, Russia can come out of the Western embargo significantly strengthened, with more diversified foreign trade and better developed export infrastructure in the Far East, as well as more balanced foreign relations that are more resistant to sanctions.
The price for this will be the undermining of the policy Moscow had been pursuing for many years to diversify its ties with Asia. Russia will be forced to act in line with China’s Asian policy not only to contain the United States, but also to confront US allies led by Japan. The negative impact of its partnership with China on relations with India and Vietnam can be minimized as long as these countries remain independent players, not unduly beholden to the United States, and, thus, do not become priority targets for Chinese pressure.
The question of forming a military alliance with Beijing will most likely not arise in the near future. But hypothetically, it is still impossible to exclude the emergence of a formal Russian-Chinese military alliance, or situational military interaction in the event of military crises in the Pacific. Or, for example, appeals to article 9 of the Russian-Chinese Treaty on Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation of 2001. This article stipulates that, in the case of a threat to one of the parties, urgent consultations are to be held to eliminate such a threat. This is quite a realistic prospect in the event of a crisis concerning Taiwan, when Beijing will be interested in Russia’s ‘nuclear umbrella’ to prevent American intervention.
By Vasily Kashin, Political Science PhD, Director of Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) of Russia’s Higher School of Economics National Research University
Official data showed yesterday that Sri Lanka’s tea crop suffered its lowest yield in 13 years, reducing output in the country’s main export commodity as the island grapples with its worst economic crisis in seven decades.
The Sri Lanka Tea Board figures showed that monthly tea crops dropped to 18.16 million kilos in February, down nearly 20% from the corresponding period last year.
Tea exports brought in 1.3 billion US dollars annually before the fertilizer ban.
There is palpable anger in island nation against govt
On Friday, a day after India extended one billion dollar line of credit to Sri Lanka, the official Twitter handle of Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka noted, A friend holds out a helping hand again!!!Energizing bilateral economic partnership, India offers a credit line of USD 500 million for purchase of petroleum products. Critical support follows a discussion between EAM Dr S Jaishankar and finance minister Basil Rajapaksa.”
Sri Lanka’s finance minister Basil Rajapaksa was on a three-day trip to New Delhi, seeking help to assist the falling foreign exchange reserves of the Island nation.
The ministry of finance, in New Delhi, said in a statement: Agreement was signed between State Bank of India and Government of Sri Lanka for one billion USD credit facility for procurement of food, medicine and other essential items to Sri Lanka.”
Basil Rajapaksa, during his trip to Delhi, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after meeting Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar. An official statement from the finance minister said issues of mutual interest and economic cooperation” were discussed.
Jaishankar tweeted, Neighbourhood first. India stands with Sri Lanka. USD 1 billion credit line signed for supply of essential commodities. Key element of the package of support extended by India.”
Earlier, India had given $1.4 billion to Sri Lanka, as RBI currency swap and deferral loan, combined with another half a billion line of credit, to help Sri Lanka sustain its fuel imports.
With Sri Lanka facing its worst economic crisis ever, India’s helping hand has come in as a huge relief to resolve the crisis with regard to food and essential items. However, India agreeing to sanction the line of credit and foreign ministry’s statement on neighbourhood, was only to ensure that Sri Lanka doesn’t go the China way.
The long arm of Chinese investments in the infrastructure projects had put Sri Lanka in crisis. The economic observers in Sri Lanka are of the opinion that the Chinese investment are like the big wild elephants which were swallowing the financial reserves because Sri Lanka had to repay the loans given by China.
Economists feel that India is always for a comprehensive economic partnership and will not give anything without being on a white paper. In fact, sources close to Rajapaksa also say that India’s help came only after a very hard try by its finance minister.
Sources in Colombo say that Rajapaksa’s meeting with Modi was finalised only after Sri Lanka agreed for a business investment from a leading corporate company in India. Rajapaksa, as finance minister, has been under much pressure to save the dwindling economy of Sri Lanka.
On Tuesday, hours after he left Colombo to reach Delhi, a massive crowd joined the protest against the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government. Organised by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), the protest rally was led by opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and others. The protesters who walked past the Shangri La residence of Rajapaksa to picket the Presidential secretariat near Galle Face, were seen wearing headbands saying “Gota Go Home!
Since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the Rajapaksas have been trying hard to save the crippling economy, but in vain.
In fact, Basil Rajapaksa, during his earlier trips to India, managed to get loans and financial support. In December 2021, he had held talks with Jaishankar, and both the countries had agreed upon a four-pronged approach to resolve Sri Lanka’s financial crisis. India had then agreed to give credit lines to Sri Lanka for import of essentials such as food, medicines and fuel. It had also agreed for currency swap to help in increasing Sri lanka’s foreign reserves, and modernising the Trincomalee oil tank farm. In 2021, India had sent one lakh kilos of nano nitrogen fertiliser after Colombo has banned the use of contaminated fertilisers.
Even when the new line of credit from India could save the island nation, it is only a temporary solution which will help Sri Lanka purchase food and essential goods. But the country, that is highly dependent on imports and which is seeing its foreign exchange reserves depleting constantly, needs to find a permanent solution.
COLOMBO, March 18 (Xinhua) — A specialized nephrology hospital in Sri Lanka, built with the assistance of the Chinese government, has successfully performed a kidney transplant surgery from a living donor recently, the first of its kind since the operation of the hospital.
The China-Sri Lanka Friendship National Nephrology Hospital said the recipient of the transplant is a 28-year-old woman who had been suffering from kidney disease for 10 years and the kidney donator is her mother.
The mother and daughter are in stable condition after the surgery, and both the medical staff and patient are very satisfied with the results of the operation, according to the hospital.
Buddima Jayawickrama, a well-known transplant surgeon in Sri Lanka, who was in charge of the surgery, attributed the success of the operation to adequate preparation and close collaboration among all parties, as well as to the advanced and complete medical facilities of the hospital, especially giving credit to the technical team of the Chinese company that built the hospital for providing the hardware guarantee for the operation.
The success of this transplant surgery is a good start, which makes the hospital more confident to become an important platform for kidney transplant in Sri Lanka and South Asia, said Sampath Indika Kumara, director of the hospital.
The China-Sri Lanka Friendship National Nephrology Hospital, located in the ancient city of Polonnaruwa and officially opened in June 2021, has an area of 25,000 square meters, featuring 200 general inpatient beds, 100 hemodialysis beds.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) intends to begin discussions with Sri Lanka on a programme to support the country, IMF spokesman Gerry Rice says.
Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday (March 17), Mr. Rice said the IMF has highlighted the urgent need to implement a credible and coherent strategy to restore macro-economic stability and debt sustainability or protect vulnerable groups through strengthened well-targetted social safety nets.
We stand ready to discuss all options for Sri Lanka,” Mr. Rice said further.
The IMF recently concluded its Article IV consultation with Sri Lanka and the Executive Board recommended a gradual return to a market-determined and flexible exchange rate to facilitate external adjustment and rebuild international reserves.
Earlier this week, IMF Asia and Pacific Department Director Changyong Rhee met with Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to discuss the details of the fund’s latest review of the economy and the assessments on the island nation.
Following the said meeting with the top IMF official, President Rajapaksa, in a televised address, said he has decided to work with the IMF.
The Health Ministry says that another 288 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 today, as the daily count of new cases continues to rise in the country.
This brings the tally of Covid-19 cases registered in the country thus far to 657,723.
According to official figures, 624,521 positive cases have recovered.
Following the new development, the number of virus-infected people who are undergoing treatment moved to 16,780.
Meanwhile, the Director-General of Health Services confirmed 03 new coronavirus-related deaths for March 17, pushing the country’s death toll from the pandemic to 16,422.
The deaths reported today include 03 males, according to the figures released by the Department of Govt. Information.
One of the victims is between the ages of 30-59 years. The remaining two are in the age group of 60 years and above.
A three-day motorcycle parade organised by a private motorcycle club called “Spin Rider Club” from Mirigama to Anuradhapura via Kalpitiya has been cancelled by the police due to public protest.
The said club had sought permission to hold the parade in line with a cash donation to Maharagama Apeksha Hospital and distribution of books and stationery to school children in Kalpitiya. Police said.
They said permission was granted subject to conditions and charging government fees as it was a request made legally regarding a charity work.
However, the parade scheduled from Kalpitiya to Anuradhapura has been cancelled due to public protest and violation of agreed conditions, police said.
Police said steps would be taken to take legal action if they had acted against the law.. (Ajith Siriwardana)
Dmitry Medvedev, who served as president from 2008 to 2012 and is now deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said the United States had stoked “disgusting” Russophobia in an attempt to force Russia to its knees.
“It will not work – Russia has the might to put all of our brash enemies in their place,” Medvedev said.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the United States and its European and Asian allies have slapped sanctions on Russian leaders, companies and businessmen, cutting off Russia from much of the world economy.
Video: Lavrov-Kuleba meeting: ‘Nothing concrete came out of it’ (France 24)
President Vladimir Putin says that what he calls the special military operation in Ukraine was necessary because the United States was using Ukraine to threaten Russia and Russia had to defend against the “genocide” of Russian-speaking people by Ukraine.
Ukraine says it is fighting for its existence and that Putin’s claims of genocide are nonsense. The West says claims it wants to rip Russia apart are fiction.
Russia says that despite sanctions it can fare well without what it casts as a deceitful and decadent West led by the United States. It says its bid to forge ties with the West after the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union is now over and that it will develop ties with other powers such as China.
Some of our people need to have their heads examined! They were demonstrating in front of the Presidential Secretarial without thinking about what will happen if they remove President Gota. Who is the person who can replace him? Last year when the Covid 19 broke in Sri Lanka, thanks to the quick action of President Gota, we had only very few deaths. In the early days, we only had 22 die initially since the country was put into lockdown quickly. Later the numbers increased since the Opposition fought the lockdown. By comparison in the USA, Europe, India, etc, hundreds of thousands died. Imagine if the Opposition were in power! Do you think there is any other leader other than President Gota who could have taken quick, strong decisions ?. Only a battle-wise veteran like Colonel Gotabaya Rajapaksa assisted by General Shavendra Silva could have saved the country from the LTTE and Covid.
Only a few years ago when the LTTE were killing our soldiers and the people with suicide bombers and explosions in trains and buses, who came to the rescue of the country to save it? The Opposition only wanted to appease their colonial masters and they followed the advice of the Norwegian peace negotiators who were appointed by CBK and told the Govt that the LTTE was too strong to defeat militarily. It was the Rajapaksa family with Mahinda as the President and Gota as the Secretary who saved the country. President Gota knew how to battle since he had been a soldier who was decorated for bravery. He had got injured in the field and nearly lost his life when the LTTE threw a bomb at him. Even though the military under President Mahinda did everything to save the 300,000 Tamil civilians who were kidnapped by the LTTE resulting in the death of more soldiers, were the LTTE accused by the UNHRC as war criminals ?. No, the UNHRC brought a Resolution against the brave soldiers who saved the country which was co-sponsored by the Yahapalanaya Govt who were trying to appease the ex-colonials.
In spite of the unprecedented problems faced by the Govt due to situations in the world, the Rajapaksa Govt has faced every issue and is also doing a lot of development work that will bear good results in the future. They just opened one of the biggest Cement factories in Hambantota, a 1000MW solar power plant agreement was signed with India, and Gota has given instructions for 5000MW of renewable power just in the last two months to address climate change and increase electricity supply. There is also a big effort to clean up the food supply of Sri Lanka which was causing CKDU in massive numbers. It is unfortunate that the Govt is short of foreign exchange due to the Covid and the world situation. Sri Lanka lost simultaneously tourism and migrant workers remittances in 2020, 2021. Instead of standing together with the Govt that has looked after the people so well, the Opposition is trying to take advantage of the present difficult times to bring down the Govt.
Some of the Colombians who were living on commissions from imports are not happy with the current Govt. There are many so-called economic experts writing in the newspapers about what should have been done. They are very clever since hindsight is very easy. No one could have predicted what happened in the last two years. No one could have foreseen that Sri Lanka will be hit by two variations of Covid and then the high oil prices due to the war in Ukraine, and Climate Change requirements.
During the Yahapalanaya no development work was done and the chief architect of the two bond scams (Rs. 80 billion) now wants to advise the present govt who has done so much !. During the time of the Yahapalanaya, they could have paid down the debt since oil prices fell to a record low. Instead, they chose to import all the luxury cars and let the ministers sell them at a profit. Yahapalanaya allowed free imports of anything which let the commission agents flourish.
Our people do not seem to think at all; they just react to situations. In 2015 when MR handed over the Govt the exchange rate was Rs. 130 to a dollar. In 2019 it was Rs. 199 per dollar and the debt was 75%. Yet now the Opposition is telling us that they know best how to run the economy. Did you know that 40 people from the Opposition went to Davos for their Billionaires meeting paying $2000/day for a hotel room – for what?
My advice to the people of Sri Lanka is at this dark hour stand strong with proven loyal leaders who have shown ability and are moving the country forward in spite of all the world issues. I agree that there are some difficulties and instead of trying to use it as an opportunity to topple the Govt and take over as was done in 2015, please be patient and let them carry for their term. If we keep changing Govts each time there is a global situation, the country will only go more and more backward. We have to realize that we are a very small country and need to balance ourselves against some of the major powers who dominate the world. It takes great diplomacy to balance on the knife-edge to keep the major powers from taking over or re-colonizing our country.
Senaka Weeraratna Founder Member and Vice – President (JAN)
We are a not-for-profit organization incorporated under the company laws of Sri Lanka as an Association (Registration No.GA236166).
In order to create a just society anchored to compassion for all living beings and nature we are carrying on this public fb group, with a view to drawing public attention to pain and suffering of animals largely due to the inhumanity of humans, and destruction of the natural habitat.
We are also uploading videos to our YouTube channel. Please watch them by searching the YouTube under the name ‘Justice for Animals and Nature’ and subscribe to this channel.
The Aims and Objectives of the Organization (JAN) are as follows:
1) To strive for Freedom and Justice for Animals, and creation of a Just Society,
2) To rebuild an animal – friendly cultural heritage in Sri Lanka, by fostering and caring for the well-being of animals,
3) To campaign for reform of the Constitution and updating of the laws to protect animals, nature and heritage, commensurate with modern standards of care and treatment, and engage in legal advocacy and public litigation,
4) To liaise and support other organizations within or outside Sri Lanka engaged in the promotion and protection of fauna, flora and nature,
5) To promote humanitarian education and awareness programs commencing at pre-school level, aimed at securing animal rights, protection and welfare,
6) To work towards ending cruelty to animals and the use of animals in entertainment, zoos, slavery, sports, races, experiments and religious activities including ritual sacrifices,
7) To promote plant–based food production and consumption, and propagate the benefits of Vegetarianism and Veganism,
8) To call for a ban on the export of live animals from Sri Lanka for slaughter, entertainment and presentation as gifts to other countries, and export of meat products and seafood from Sri Lanka,
9) To encourage the public to not earn a living by rearing animals for slaughter or killing animals including invertebrates such as crustaceans, and to call for a ban on slaughter of cattle and other animals,
10) To create awareness on environmental pollution and environmental degradation, and their injurious effects on human health, climate change and bio–diversity, and campaign against all such forms of pollution, including noise pollution,
11) To advocate preservation of remains of pre–historic and historic cultures and heritage, archaeological areas, residual forests and natural habitats of non–human living creatures, elephant corridors, and engagement in sustainable development, and
12) To promote ‘Ahimsa’ as a cardinal tenet pervading all activities.
If you wish to join our organization as a member, volunteer or support us financially to carry out our mission please contact us at the address given below:
We welcome sincere and dedicated people in any part of this world to join hands with us as members to realize these noble aims and transform ourselves into truly compassionate beings.
Bruce F. Anderson refers to the twelve points ‘ Aims and Objectives of the Justice for Animals and Nature’.
He says that these objects are worthy of being enshrined internationally and far superior to anything that the Western world has drafted hitherto to advance the cause of animal rights.
Concluding his two-day official visit to New Delhi, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa today (17) witnessed the signing of the agreement pertaining to the Short-Term Concessional Loan facility of USD 1 billion extended by the Government of India to the Government of Sri Lanka through the State Bank of India.
The USD 1 billion loan facility, which formed the key component of the four-pillar economic cooperation arrangement agreed between India and Sri Lanka during Minister Rajapaksa’s visit to New Delhi in December last year, was extended to the Government of Sri Lanka for procurement of food, medicines and other essential items.
The signing ceremony was held at the Ministry of Finance in New Delhi this afternoon in the presence of Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the External Affairs Minister of India Dr. S. Jaishankar and the Indian Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman. Managing Director of the State Bank of India Shri Ashwini Kumar Tewari and the Bank’s General Manager Shri Vinod Kumar were also present on this occasion.
Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S. R. Attygalle signed the agreement on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, with Deputy General Manager Shri Pushkar Jha signing on behalf of the State Bank of India.
Prior to the signing ceremony, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa was received jointly by the Finance and External Affairs Ministers of India for bilateral talks at the Finance Ministry in the North Block.
During the bilateral talks, the two sides agreed to set up a framework for short, medium and long-term economic cooperation between the two countries aimed at addressing Sri Lanka’s present economic challenges.
With this objective, the three Ministers agreed to stay in regular contact and a coordinating mechanism consisting of senior officials from the two countries was set up to maintain a regular dialogue.
Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa was accompanied to this meeting by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda, Secretary to the Ministry of Finance S. R. Attygalle and Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Niluka Kadurugamuwa.
Earlier in the day, Minister Rajapaksa met with India’s Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy Shri Raj Kumar Singh and discussed the ways and means to further deepen and broaden bilateral cooperation in the power and renewable energy sector. Chief Economic Adviser of the Government of India, Prof. A. Nageswaran also called on Finance Minister Rajapaksa.
The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another three coronavirus related deaths for March 16, pushing the country’s death toll due to the virus to 16,419.
This figure includes two males and one female patient while all three deceased are over the age of 60 years.
Meanwhile the Health Ministry says that another 301 persons have tested positive for Covid-19 today, increasing the tally of confirmed cases registered in the country to 657,435.
The Russian military began to pull back the curtain on the scale and scope of the network of Pentagon-funded biolabs in Ukraine last week. US officials and media initially dismissed these revelations as “Russian disinformation,” but were forced to correct the narrative after undersecretary of state Nuland admitted that such labs do in fact exist.
The Russian Ministry of Defence has released fresh details about the US military-funded biolabs operating in Ukraine, including a trove of original documentation. The MoD also revealed that Joanna Wintrol, the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s liason officer at the US Embassy in Kiev, has been serving as one of the programme’s curators.
Commenting on a trove of papers released in a presentation Thursday, Russian Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops chief Igor Kirillov pointed to a document dated 6 March 2015 which he said confirmed in no uncertain terms that components of biological weapons were being created in Ukraine with direct US involvement and financing.”An analysis of the information received suggests that Ukrainian specialists have not been made aware of the potential risks involved in the transfer of biomaterials, and that they are essentially being used and kept in the dark, and have no real idea about the true goals of the ongoing research,” Kirillov said at a briefing in Moscow.
Kirillov shed light on a major project worth tens of millions of dollars and involving Ukraine’s top biolabs. The research, known as Project UP-8, was “directed at the study of pathogens of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, leptospirosis and hantaviruses,” according to the RCB Defence Troops chief. It is “no coincidence” that Ukraine-based facilities were chosen by the DTRA and contractor Black & Veatch to execute the project, the officer said, given that these pathogens have natural foci in both Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian biolaboratories were also the main executor of Project P-782, conducting research into the transmission of diseases through bats. A Russian RCB Defence Troops analysis of documents showed that Pentagon research has been going on since at least 2009 under the direct supervision of US specialists, and that work in this area has also been done through several related projects, known as P-382, P-444 and P-568.
Kirillov said the Pentagon invested $1.6 million into this research, which was said to have been carried out at a lab in Kharkov, northeastern Ukraine, and the Lugar Center in Tbilisi, Georgia.”One of the curators of this activity was DRA Chief Joanna Wintrol. Perhaps she should speak to journalists?” Kirillov suggested.
The officer also addressed information gleaned from documents received from the Kharkov Institute of Veterinary Medicine on the use of wild migratory birds as vectors for the transmission of a highly pathogenic form of avian influenza. This research, he said, included a study of the conditions under which the processes of the virus’s transmission could become uncontrollable, with the purpose being to cause economic damage and creating risks to food security.
Kirillov also expanded on previously-made MoD allegations on the sending of serum samples of Ukrainian patients abroad, citing documentation on the transfer of 5,000 samples to the Lugar Center, and indications that 773 more samples were sent to a UK reference lab. The MoD released a sample invoice.
Commenting on the security implications of the US-funded Ukrainian biolabs’ operations for the region, Kirillov said that the 2018 deaths of over 70 residents of the settlement of Peski, Donetsk People’s Republic from drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis may be associated with the activities of one such lab, with pathogens either accidentally or deliberately leaked.
The officer accused the United States and Ukraine of keeping silent about the research taking place at Ukrainian biolabs from the United Nations, notwithstanding Biological Weapons Convention rules requiring member countries to submit detailed information on their biological activities.”I’m referring here to the confidence-building measures, which are published with the aim of monitoring the implementation of the Convention. Since 2016, the moment that the projects we’ve named began to be realized…the United States and Ukraine have deliberately kept silent about this work in international reporting, due to its clear military-biological direction. This secrecy is another reason to stop and think about the goals the Pentagon is pursuing in Ukraine,” Kirillov suggested.
The officer suggested that essentially, Washington’s farming out of its military biological activities to third countries serves a means to bypass its international obligations by proxy. The current activity is also nothing new, Kirillov stressed, pointing, for example, to President Barack Obama’s surprise admission in 2010 that the United States deliberately infected Guatemalan nationals with syphilis and gonorrhea pathogens in the 1940s.
The Russian military began to disclose details on the scale and scope of the US-funded network of biolabs across Ukraine last week. US officials and media immediately dismissed the MoD’s reporting as Russian propaganda and disinformation, releasing articles and fact checks to that effect. These same officials and media were put on the spot on 7 March when undersecretary of state Victoria Nuland told lawmakers that “biological research facilities” were in fact operating in Ukraine.
Nuland said the United States was “quite concerned” that Russian troops may take control of these labs, and assured that Washington was “working with the Ukrainians on how they can prevent any of those research materials from falling into the hands of Russian forces should they approach.”The Russian MoD has continued to provide additional information regarding the operations of these facilities in the days that followed.US Tried to Fund Biolabs in Ukraine as Early as 2005, Records Show11 March, 17:28 GMT
Rajapaksa, who arrived in Delhi on Wednesday for a three-day visit, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to finalise the credit line.
AS INDIA prepares to sign off on a $1-bn emergency credit line to Sri Lanka for food and essential commodities during Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s visit, it will push Colombo for the finalisation of earlier proposals on the joint development of Palaly airport and Kankesanthurai harbour, both in the Jaffna peninsula close to the Tamil Nadu coast.
Rajapaksa, who arrived in Delhi on Wednesday for a three-day visit, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is scheduled to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to finalise the credit line.
India has extended $1.4 bn to Colombo since January — a $500 mn line of credit, $400 mn currency swap and $500 mn for loan deferment with Asian Clearing Union — after Rajapaksa’s last visit in December 2020.A mountain destination like no otherSponsored by NEOMLearn more
The Ministry of External Affairs said Rajapksa briefed Modi on initiatives being taken by both countries to increase bilateral economic co-operation, and conveyed his thanks for the support extended by India for the Sri Lankan economy”.
Modi said Sri Lanka had a central role in India’s Neighbourhood First policy and maritime SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine. He also noted the potential for increasing bilateral tourist flows, including through joint promotion of Buddhist and Ramayan circuits.
Speaking to The Indian Express, an official said Delhi was pressing” Colombo to quickly finalise the two connectivity” projects at Palaly and Kankesanthurai. Both projects will help Colombo resuscitate its tourism industry after the double blow of the Easter bombing in 2019 and the pandemic from 2020, the official said.
The two sides are also looking at restarting a ferry service between Thalaimannar in north-western Sri Lanka and Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.
The Palaly airport was opened to civilian flights from Chennai in October 2019 after a partial refurbishment of the runway, but has been closed since the pandemic. Colombo has shown no sign of reopening the facility, now known as Jaffna International Airport. India had helped in lengthening the runway at Palaly before its reopening, and has expressed interest in further development.
The two countries had signed an MoU on developing the Kankesanthurai harbour in 2018, with Exim Bank providing funds for carrying out feasibility studies, preparing a detailed project report, conducting geo-spatial surveys and removing wreckage. The project has not progressed.
The two projects will add to India’s portfolio in the Tamil-dominated north-east and the theatre of its three-decade civil war that ended 2009. On March 11, Indian companies concluded two other major agreements for projects in the region: an agreement between National Thermal Power Corporation and Ceylon Electricity Board to set up a solar power plant at Sampur in Trincomalee and a deal by Adani Group to set up two renewable energy projects worth $ 500 million, likely at Mannar in the north-west.
While the terms of the Adani agreement are not in the public domain, both agreements are significant given that at India’s protest last year, Colombo cancelled a Chinese renewable energy project in the islands off Jaffna. In January, India and Sri Lanka signed a deal for the joint development of the Trincomalee Oil Tank farm, another project that had faced many obstacles.
The Sri Lanka High Commission said Modi and Rajapaksa discussed a wide range of bilateral issues”, and that other than tourism and fisheries, renewable energy was also discussed. The statement referred to digitalisation”, which likely relates to a recent pact to replicate the Aadhaar model in Sri Lanka.
© Reuters/SPUTNIK FILE PHOTO: Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Medvedev gives an interview outside Moscow
