The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Sri Lanka has not made any request for financial support.
IMF’S Mission Chief for Sri Lanka Masahiro Nozaki told Daily Mirror in an email that a staff team from the IMF is scheduled to visit Colombo from December 7–20.
Responding to a question posed on the visit, the IMF Mission Chief said that the delegation will be in Colombo to conduct 2021 Article IV consultations with Sri Lanka.
Under Article IV of the IMF’S Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds regular bilateral discussions with all member countries to review economic developments and policies; following approval by IMF Management the IMF’S Executive Board discusses a Staff Report based on these discussions.
The IMF has not received a request for financial support from Sri Lanka recently, but the staff stands ready to discuss options if requested,” Masahiro Nozaki said. United National Party (UNP) leader
Ranil Wickremesinghe was quoted as telling Parliament this week that Sri Lanka is bound to go for a dialogue with the IMF under section four of the UN Monetary and Financial Conference in December this year.
He had requested the Government to present the details of this dialogue to Parliament saying Parliament has the right to know details of the agreement to be reached. (EASWARAN RUTNAM)
The Health Ministry reported that another 211 persons have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, increasing the daily count of new cases to 740.
Six of the new cases are returnees from overseas while the other 205 cases are associated with the New Year COvid-19 cluster.
This increases the total number of Covid-19 cases registered in the country to 560,345 while presently a total of 17,713 infected patients are undergoing treatment island-wide.
The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 27 coronavirus related deaths for November 24, pushing the country’s death toll due to the virus pandemic to 14,232.
The deaths include 19 males and 08 females while seven of the victims are between the ages 30-59 years. The remaining 20 are in the age group of 60 years and above.
South Asia needs in reviving SAARC for
various reasons. Covid-19 pandemic
remembered this reality again. South Asian countries should stand together to
tackle some common Regional problems. SAARC is that platform. But SAARC is
sleepy now. Thus, SAARC should be revived as a regional platform. A dedicated
partner’s role is very needed in this connection. It is Sri Lanka that can play
a significant role in reviving the SAARC. Sri Lanka is the only South Asian Country
which has very good relations with the other countries in South Asia. The ties
amongst Sri Lanka and other stakeholders in the region are well known. As an
active member in the SAARC, Sri Lanka should play an important role to revive
the dead alike SAARC. The journey of the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) began in 1985 when India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal,
Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives formed the platform. In 2007, Afghanistan
joined SAARC. Sri Lanka and the Maldives are island states while Nepal, Bhutan
and Afghanistan are landlocked.
If Sri Lanka can play to revive the SAARC
this time, Sri Lanka would benefit from it. A free trade of zone could be created
in the region. As a regional country, Sri Lanka could benefit by reaping that
potentials. On the other hands, the Prestige of Sri Lanka would increase in the
region to some extent international arena.
Realizing the unprecedented progress the
world’s other regions have made, it was felt the same development is possible
if communication and cooperation within this region can be increased to the
desired level.
The EU, ASEAN, GCC and other regional blocs
have achieved prosperity by joining regional alliances. Their citizens
excluding some member states are not required to obtain visas if they wish to
travel from one allied country to another. They can travel from one country to
another by road, rail, sea or air without hindrance. These alliances give more
importance to regional trade.
After SAARC came up, it was hoped that
citizens of one country would be able to travel to another without a visa. One
country would provide transit facilities to another country as required. But
that goal has not yet been achieved. And the prospect of achieving that in the
near future is not very bright.
The main objective of establishing SAARC
was to make the region one of the most prosperous in the world by enhancing
regional connectivity and cooperation. But almost 30 years later, it is clear
that there is still a long way to go. So all countries including Sri Lanka
should consider this carefully. As a responsible regional Stakeholder in the
region, Sri Lanka should play a role to revive the SAARC.
There are many privileges, opportunities in
case of revival of SAARC for all member states in the sector of free trade,
tackling Covid-19, cooperation of counter-terrorism,
cultural exchange, public diplomacy, cricket diplomacy, removal of visa
restrictions, robust connectivity etc.
India is the largest of SAARC countries in
size and population. The second place belongs to Pakistan. Before SAARC, India
and Pakistan had waged three wars. Bangladesh was born in 1971 out of Pakistan.
Perhaps, this background has blocked the region from moving ahead.
Capitalizing available resources
SAARC is home to more than a quarter of the
world’s population. In recent times, the countries of the region have made
great strides in agriculture. While industrial development is promising, there
is a need to harness the potential for further development. The scope of
regional trade within SAARC is limited. If this is expanded, SAARC member
states will achieve unprecedented development.
Nepal and Bhutan are bounded on the east,
west and south by India. Although the two are bordered by China on the north,
their entire border is rugged. So, communication in that direction is
impenetrable. Nepal and Bhutan are dependent on India for foreign trade.
Although these two have long demanded transit facilities from SAARC through
Chittagong and Mongla in Bangladesh, the slow pace of implementation has
tarnished SAARC’s spirit.
The seven states of northeastern India are
called Seven Sisters”. They maintain communication with the Indian mainland
through a narrow route called the Chicken’s Neck. Communication through this
route is time-consuming and expensive. India is interested in establishing
transit by road, rail and waterways with these seven states through Bangladesh.
Although the transit is open by water, it is not fruitful through the year due
to the low navigability of the rivers.
Bangladesh is on its way to developing the
infrastructure required for transit by road and rail. It would like to be a
transit hub between South Asia and South-East Asia. Dhaka is focusing on
regional connectivity. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has always urged regional
countries to be connected.
Immediate concerns
A platform like SAARC is needed to address
problems like the Afghanistan crisis. But SAARC is inactive due to the
India-Pakistan dispute. Pakistan and India should work together to revive SAARC
to maximize regional interests.
Meanwhile, 54 common rivers through India
flow into the Bay of Bengal through Bangladesh. By unilaterally withdrawing
water from most rivers upstream, India is using it to maintain the navigability
of inland rivers, including hydropower generation and irrigation. Bangladesh
has faced an unfavourable situation due to this. New Delhi should work with
Bangladesh for better regional benefits. India should complete a fair Teesta
agreement with Bangladesh soon. As a big fish, it has some accountability
towards others.
From Bangladesh’s perspective, India has
always shown a disdainful attitude towards other SAARC members. Due to this –
among other reasons – SAARC is failing to reach its goal.
Although India has road and rail links with
Bangladesh and Pakistan, trade is conducted through transhipment due to lack of
transit facilities. Communication is not very easy as the citizens of these
three countries need a visa to communicate. At present, trade between Nepal and
Bhutan with Bangladesh is handled through transhipment in the absence of
transit. As a result, the import and export expenditure of both is
increasing.
India’s economy is growing rapidly.
Bangladesh’s economy is also booming. The economies of all other countries in
South Asia are also developing. For regional cooperation, the following
provisions should be introduced:
• Transit facilities between SAARC
countries are opened
• Visa system must be abolished
• Currency of one country must be easily
exchanged in another country or a common currency must be introduced
• Travel facility from one country to
another in a private car should star
• Flow of electricity, gas, oil and water
from one country to another must be made easily available
• Same SIM card must be used to talk from
one country to another easily and cheaply
• Scope for trade is maximized
This requires SAARC countries to show the
highest level of friendship and harmony towards each other and to make the best
use of opportunities and cooperation. All member states specially Sri Lanka must
play a role to revive SAARC as a regional cooperation platform.
Colombo, November 24 (SAM): Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa is planning to visit New Delhi at the earliest, to seek from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urgent help to tide over the economic crises in the island, especially the part concerning foreign debt repayment. According to sources, a request has been made for an appointment with Modi. If the appointment is given, the Lankan Minister will make a day’s trip.
As stated by Foreign Minister G.L.Peiris, Basil Rajapaksa’s agenda is wide – to seek loans, investment and economic cooperation. Rescheduling debt repayment could be an unstated item, as Sri Lanka had already sought it earlier from India and China.
But experts wonder if a hurried one-day trip will help Sri Lanka, when the agenda is large, and lacking in focus. There is a manifest absence of detailed planning with the involvement of both sides. Further, it is not even clear if the Sri Lankans have worked out details to make the discussions useful.
During the virtual bilateral summit between Indian Prime Minister Modi and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in September 2020, the two leaders agreed to deepen cooperation in renewable energy with particular emphasis on solar projects under the US$ 100 million Line of Credit from India. Then on 16 June 2021, the agreement in this regard between the Government of Sri Lanka and the Export-Import Bank of India, was exchanged by the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay, and the Secretary to the Treasury, Mr. S.R. Attygalle, in the presence of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. But Colombo is yet to chalk out plans to utilize the existing US$ 100 million Indian line of credit.
The other nagging question is whether, in the foreseeable future, Sri Lanka will be able to repay loans even if there is rescheduling.
Be that as it may, if an urgent meeting is being sought with Modi, it is because of the parlous state of the Lankan economy. According to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the total outstanding government debt is LKR 15 trillion and the Debt/GDP ratio is 101%. 60% of the total debt is domestic and 40% is foreign.
In April 2021, foreign debt amounted to US$ 35.1 billion. Out of the US$ 35.1 billion, 47% (US$ 16383.4 million) was accounted for by international market borrowings; 10% (US$ 3388.2 million) was owned to China; 13% (4415.7 million) to the Asian Development Bank; 9% (US% 3230.9 million) to the World Bank; 2% (US$ 859.3 million) to India, and the rest was owed to others.
Sri Lanka’s gross official foreign exchange reserves fell to US$ 2,267 million in October 2021, down 73% August 2019.
Meeting foreign-currency debt-servicing needs for 2022 will be government’s immediate concern, economic commentator Dinesh Weerakkody says. According to him, two big payments are due in 2022 – a US$ 500 million bond in January, followed by US$ 1 billion of debt maturing in July. It is estimated that a total of US$ 5 billion will be required to service debt obligations (principal plus interest) and other commitments in 2022.
In 2020, imports were reduced by approximately US$ 3.9 billion (a 20% reduction in comparison to 2019) resulting in a US$ 2 billion drop in the trade deficit. This gave the government temporary breathing room to manage foreign debt repayments in 2020, points out Umesh Moramudali, a Colombo University economist in his detailed paper in The Diplomat.
Moramudali warns that with the increase in oil prices in the global market and an expected post-COVID economic revival in Sri Lanka in 2022, fuel import bills will rise again, putting further pressure on foreign reserves. Referring to the government’s policy of barring imports to save foreign exchange, Moramudali argues that the strategy of managing foreign debt through curtailing imports is not a sustainable solution for a country like Sri Lanka, in which more than half of imports are intermediary and capital goods.
The continuous restriction of imports will curtail economic growth. which is not something that Sri Lanka can afford right now,” he avers.
Sri Lanka has resorted to issuing International Sovereign Bonds (ISB) and roll over of foreign loans. Successive have been swearing by ISBs. This is because, unlike the IMF and concessionary loans, the ISBs carry few or no conditions. But the terms are not favorable for poor countries with low foreign exchange reserves.
In a stinging comment on the penchant for ISBs, Moramudali says: ISBs are commercial borrowings, have a short payback period, high interest rates, and no grace period. ISBs have a payback period of 5-10 years with an annual interest rate above 6% to be paid biannually. On top of that, there are principal payments – in other words the total borrowed amount of an ISB is settled at the bond maturity date, all at once, rather than being distributed over the years through annual repayments. Therefore, when an ISB matures, foreign debt repayment requirements skyrocket, resulting in a large foreign currency outflow. This leads to significant BOP vulnerabilities. Consequently, even if the foreign debt-to-GDP ratio is less than what it was two decades ago, Sri Lanka’s vulnerabilities are a lot more severe and alarming, because the debt dynamics of the country have completely shifted to a new paradigm.”
Sri Lanka is adamantly opposed to seeking IMF assistance because the IMF will impose conditions related to economic management which its populist governments have tended to sneer at. But what Colombo does not realize is that Sri Lanka might not be able to maintain a sufficient level of foreign currency reserves and meet foreign debt repayment obligations in the absence of IMF assistance, Moramudali points out.
With Sri Lanka’s low sovereign credit ratings and the ongoing pandemic, issuing ISBs does not seem like an easy option for the Sri Lankan government (indeed, it looks almost impossible in the near term),” he observes.
Due to the fear of COVID and lockdowns, there has been a great contraction of trade, low tax revenue, and lack of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Sri Lanka. Trade contracted relative to GDP, falling from roughly 33% in 2000 to roughly 13% in 2019. Tourism has completely collapsed because, unlike the Maldives, Sri Lanka has been too scared of opening its borders to foreigners. About 4 million of a total of 21 million Sri Lankans depend on tourism directly or indirectly. These were at the end of their tether in 2021.
Failure to provide comprehensive and consistent, long-term solutions to address structural weaknesses in the Sri Lankan economy has resulted in Sri Lanka’s running into serious Balance of Payment (BOP) crises every other year. Sri Lanka has been relying heavily on foreign loans for development purposes over the last four decades and has now gone in for swaps with a number of countries.
Swaps
Sri Lanka had sought assistance from China and India to resolve the foreign exchange crisis. In March 2021 Sri Lanka got a US$ 1.5 billion three-year swap facility from China. In August 2021 it got US$ 400 million swap with the Reserve Bank of India. Sri Lanka had signed the swap deal available to SAARC countries in 2020 and repaid it in February 2021 after rolling it over once. It entered into a SWAP deal for US$ 250 million with Bangladesh too.
But there is a silver lining in this dark cloud. It is that Sri Lanka did not default on loan repayments even in 2020 when conditions were excruciatingly bad. It repaid the US$1 billion bond by its deadline. A further US$ 400-500 million in other commitments were met. It kept intact its reputation for honoring sovereign debts.
Embassy and Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka Bangkok, Thailand
Director General of the National Office of Buddhism in
Thailand Narong Songarom and Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Kingdom of Thailand
and Permanent Representative to UNESCAP, C.A. Chaminda I .Colonne recently had
fruitful discussion on strengthening decade old traditional Buddhist and
cultural relations and cooperation between Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Warmly welcoming Ambassador Chaminda Colonne at the
National Office of Buddhism, the Director General Narong Songarom elaborated on
the role played by the Thai Supreme Sangha Council and the National Office of
Buddhism as the central government agency of Thailand, responsible for
administration of Buddhism under direct supervision of the Prime Minister of
Thailand, and assured fullest support for furthering and consolidating of
long-standing excellent bonds of friendship and cooperation.
After extending warm greetings from President, Prime Minister
and Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka, Ambassador Colonne stated that under the
National Policy Frame Work Vistas of Prosperity & Splendour”, and the
twenty Foreign Policy guidelines of the present Government, priory has been
given for the promotion and protection of the Buddhism and to booster Sri
Lanka’s identity as a Theravada Buddhist Cultural Centre, which respects multi
religious values, by closely interacting with nations that respects similar
values and called to unite for facing the challenges of the 21st
Century.
Executive Committee and senior officials of the
National Office of Buddhism participated in the discussion. During the visit, Ambassador
Colonne also paid homage to Phra Si Sakkaya Thotsaphala Yan Prathan
Phutthamonthon Suthat, the Principal Buddha Statue of Buddhamonthon and Luang
Pho Wat Rai Khing statue, Phra Thepsasanaphiban, the Ecclesiastical Regional
Governor of Region 14 and the Abbot of Rai Khing at the Royal Temple in Nakhon Pathom Province.
At the invitation of National Office of Buddhism and Phra
Thepsasanaphiban, the Ecclesiastical Regional Governor of Region 14 and the Abbot
of Wat Rai Khing, the Royal Temple, Ambassador Chaminda Colonne jointly attended
with the Governor of Nakhon Pathom Province Surasak Charoensirichot, at the enshrinement ceremony of the Buddha’s relics
from Malwatta Maha Viharaya of Sri Lanka, Phra Sri
Sakaya Tossapalayana statue, Sukhothai Buddha image in pacifying the ocean
posture onto the directional arches of Phra Upali Maha Mongkon Stupa and the
ceremony of casting the statue of Luang Pho Wat Rai Khing (lap size of 32
inches) on the occasion of 99th Anniversary of Phra Upali
Kunupamachan, (Panya Inthapanyamahathera), former Abbot of Wat Rai Khing, the
Royal Temple. Somdet Phra Maha
Rajamongkonmuni, Councilor of Sangha Supreme Council and Chief Superintendent of the Central Sector of Wat
Traimitwittayaram temple attended as the Sangha President of this grand
religious occasion.
At the invitation of President and Chief
Executive Officer of the Thai Beverage Public Company Limited Thapana
Sirivadhanabhakdi, Ambassador Chaminda Colonne also participated at the Katina Ceremony
led by Abbot Athikaran Prasart Khemapunyo at Wat Dhammarama, Ayutthaya, historical
temple that Pra Upali Maha Thera stayed and started journey to Sri Lanka, on King
Boromakot’s order and King Kirti Sri Raja Singha’ s request to ordain people
and promote Buddhism in Sri Lanka in 1753. Initiatives were taken by the Thai
Beverage Public Company Limited for renovation of the historical site and Pramaha Poj Suvajo Thero handed over the first
release of cartoon strip or comic book titled Venerable Upali Thera The Jewel
of the Siam Vamsa” printed by Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University to
Ambassador Colonne, and the present Governor Weerachai Nakmas, former Governor
Widaya Pewphpong of Ayutthya, former Thailand Ambassador to Sri Lanka Poldej
Worachat were among the dignitaries participated.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s government has withdrawn a ban on imports of agrochemicals that it said was aimed at encouraging organic cultivation.
Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage announced on Wednesday the revocation of the ban, which took effect in April. But he said government subsidies, price guarantees for produce and technical support will only be provided to those who use organic fertilizer.
The ban, which many analysts said was more an effort to preserve Sri Lanka’s scarce foreign reserves, drew months of protests, with farmers saying they were in danger of crop failures and poverty.
Tea growers complained that the famous Ceylon Tea brand was at risk if yields fell, creating more opportunities for competitors.
Agriculturists said that while organic farming was a welcome approach, the shift away from chemicals should be gradual to avoid food shortages.
Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves dwindled to just two months’ worth of imports in August and its rupee currency depreciated 7.4% against the dollar in the first eight months of the year, according to the World Bank.
NEW DELHI — Sri Lanka will tap a Chinese company for a port project in Colombo, its largest city, that had been awarded to Japan and India before the partnership was scrapped this year.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s cabinet on Tuesday agreed to have state-run China Harbour Engineering develop the Eastern Container Terminal while stipulating that local authorities would handle all operations. It cited recommendations by a cabinet-appointed committee as the basis for the decision.
The apparent pro-China tilt of Rajapaksa’s government is seen as a factor in the change of plans. Beijing has invested heavily in projects on the strategically positioned island under its Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
Sri Lanka had signed a memorandum of understanding with Japan and India in May 2019, under previous President Maithripala Sirisena, to jointly develop the Colombo terminal. The operating company would be 51% owned by the Sri Lankan government, with the rest held by Japan and India.
Rajapaksa, who took office in November of that year, indicated at first that the project would stay on course.
That changed this past February, when the cabinet decided that the operating company would be wholly owned by Sri Lanka, pushing Japan and India out of the project. The Japanese government called the unilateral move “regrettable.”
China has continued to provide financing for Sri Lankan infrastructure, taking control of projects such as roads and port facilities in the process. Concerns have been raised that this support is pushing the country into a debt trap.
Rajapaksa has said he wants to be “neutral” in Sri Lanka’s relations with India and China. The government recently reached an agreement with India’s Adani Group conglomerate to develop Colombo’s West Container Terminal.
The All Ceylon Farmers’ Federation stated that despite the decision to allow the private sector to import chemical fertilizers and pesticides from today(24), farmers will have to be compensated for the damage caused to their crops over the past few months.
Meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage stated in a statement that the government’s decision on a green Sri Lanka will not be reversed.
The importation of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides was banned following a Cabinet Memorandum dated April 27.
At the same time, protests were staged across the country and farmers withdrew from cultivation during the Maha season.
Permission will be granted to the private sector to import agrochemicals such as chemical fertilizers and weedicides with effect from today (November 24), says Minister of Agriculture Mahindananda Aluthgamage.
He made this remark addressing the special media briefing held this morning to announce Cabinet decisions.
However, the government’s policy to promote green agriculture in the country will not be rolled back, the minister stressed.
He added that a gazette notification green-lighting the import of chemical fertilizer by the private sector is expected to be issued within the day.
The President tabled a Cabinet paper on April 26 for promoting green agriculture and a gazette notification was issued subsequently issued to ban the import of fungicides and weedicides completely,” the minister went on, noting that almost seven months have passed since reaching the decision.
Yesterday, as a government receptive to the people, we decided to revoke the gazette notification dated April 26. Accordingly, permission will be given to import chemical fertilizers, and pesticides effective from today. However, no changes will be made to the government’s policy. The private sector is given the nod to import and sell chemical fertilizers.”
The government has decided to roll out a booster dose of COVID-19 vaccine to people above the age of 20 years, Minister of Health Keheliya Rambukwella said today.
Relevant details of the vaccination program are expected to be announced in due course.
Meanwhile, administration of the COVID third dose for fully vaccinated immunocompromised and highly vulnerable comorbid individuals aged 20 years and above began on November 20.
The daily count of COVID-19 cases confirmed in Sri Lanka moved to 745 today (November 24) as 227 more people were tested positive for the virus, the Epidemiology Unit said.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in the country to 559,605.
As many as 527,929 recoveries and 14,205 deaths have been confirmed in Sri Lanka since the COVID-19 outbreak.
More than 17,400 active cases in total are currently under medical care, official figures showed.
The Director General of Health Services has confirmed another 23 coronavirus related deaths for November 2, increasing the death toll in the country due to the virus to 14,205.
According to the figures released today, the deaths include 11 males and 12 females while one of the victims is below the age of 30 years.
Four patients are between the ages 30-59 years while the remaining 18 are in the age group of 60 years and above.
The Tamil politicians had planned to achieve a
separate Tamil state in Ceylon, long before Independence or Sinhala Only. The
words Tamil Eelam” was used for the first time in 1923, by Ponnambalam Arunachalam
when he spoke before the Tamil League. In
this speech he spoke of the ‘desire to preserve our individuality as a people.’
In 1931, HAP Sandrasagara said,”I will make Jaffna an Ulster and I
will be its Lord Carson. In 1935 C.S. Rajaratnam,
an Indian Tamil proctor resident in Kandy presented a memorandum to the British
administration asking for three self governing federal states. North and east for
the Tamils, the rest divided into two states for Kandyan Sinhalese and the Low
Country Sinhalese. This vision
of a separate Tamil state was maintained steadily thereafter. A select timeline
is given in Appendix 1.
Illankai Tamkil
Arasu Kadchi, ITAK said, [probably
in 1948] The Tamil-speaking
people in Ceylon constitute a nation distinct from that of the Sinhalese by
every fundamental test of nationhood, firstly that of a separate historical
past in the island at least as ancient and as glorious as that of the
Sinhalese, secondly by the fact of their being a linguistic entity entirely
different from that of the Sinhalese, with an unsurpassed classical heritage
and a modern development of language which makes Tamil fully adequate for all
present-day needs and finally by reason of their territorial habitation of
definite areas.
Tamil United Liberaton Front (TULF) declared the Vaddukoddai resolution in
1976.The first National Convention of the Tamil United Liberation Front meeting
at Pannakam (Vaddukoddai Constituency) on the 14th day of May, 1976, hereby
declares that the Tamils of Ceylon by virtue of their great language, their
religions, their separate culture and heritage, their history of independent
existence as a separate state over a distinct territory for several centuries
till they were conquered by the armed might of the European invaders and above
all by their will to exist as a separate entity ruling themselves in their own
territory, are a nation distinct and apart from Sinhalese and this Convention
announces to the world that the Republican Constitution of 1972 has made the
Tamils a slave nation ruled by the new colonial masters, the Sinhalese ,who are
using the power they have wrongly usurped to deprive the Tamil Nation of its
territory, language citizenship, economic life, opportunities of employment and
education, thereby destroying all the attributes of nationhood of the Tamil
people.
This Resolution
also wanted ‘restoration and recognition of the free sovereign secular
socialist state of Tamil Eelam based on the right of self determination
inherent to every nation. (See Appendix 2)
in 1977 TULF
stated that in the next general election
it seeks a mandate to establish an independent secular socialist state of Tamil
Eelam that includes all the geographically continuous areas that have been
the traditional homeland of the Tamil
speaking peoples of the country.’
At the first
Peace talks at Thimpu, (1985) the LTTE stated its conditions. Any meaningful solution to the Tamil national
question must be based on the following four cardinal principles:
Recognition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka as a
nation.
Recognition of the existence of an identified
homeland of the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Recognition of the right of
self-determination of the Tamil nation
Recognition of the right to citizenship as a fundamental right of all
Tamils who look upon the island as their country.
The first three conditions have been received
joyfully by the opponents of Eelam. They
are bashed around, with great enthusiasm. The Sinhalese are not attempting to
squash any of this, commented Chandraprema. They intend to let this issue drag
on to its natural end. The Sinhalese like to fight to the finish.
The Tamil separatist movement has never deviated from its demands. TNA manifesto for the 2010 General election demanded
the right of self determination, power sharing on federal model and a re-merger
of north and east. TNA also wanted direct foreign investment to the north and
east.
TNA manifesto
for NPC election of 2013 said that the Tamils were a distinct people and from
time immemorial have inhabited this island together with the Sinhalese, the
North and East are the historical habitation of the Tamils. They are entitled as a people to self
determination.
The
TNA manifesto for the 2015 General election
was more elaborate. The manifesto said the Tamils are a distinct people
with their own culture, civilization, language and heritage. From time
immemorial Tamils have inhabited this island together with the Sinhalese
people. The continuous Tamil speaking Northern and Eastern province is the
historical habitation of the Tamil people and the Tamil speaking peoples.
The 2015 Manifesto spoke of the need to exercise our right to
determine our destiny, to ensure self government in the Tamil speaking north
east of the country within a unified and undivided Sri Lanka. Sovereignty lies with the people and not
with the State, the manifesto said. The
Tamil people are entitled to self determination.
C.V.Wigneswaran
gave a speech in Jaffna, in 2016 before representatives from the Swiss Institute
of Federalism, Fribourg, for which he
used the TNA Manifesto. His speech went on the Internet. There were over 100
comments within two days, most of them insulting.
R. Sampanthan, Leader of TNA gave a talk at
the 14th annual ITAK convention, 2012.
He said ITAK was created by Chelvanayagam for ensuring self
determination of Tamils. We must have unrestricted authority to govern our own
land, protect our own people and develop our own economy, culture and tradition
The
Tamils people have a distinct culture. The position that the north and
east are the areas of historical
habitation of the Tamil speaking peoples cannot be compromised. Sri Lanka was
united for the first time by the British. Up to 500 years ago, the Tamil people
had their own government in Sri Lanka, said Sampanthan.
The 30 years after independence were filled
with betrayal and humiliation. Agreements were never kept. Tamils could not
live as equals and their peaceful struggle was met with violence. The Tamil
Separatist Movement therefore took the historical decision in 1976 to ask for a
separate government for Tamil Eelam. ‘It
was the violence against the Tamils that drove them to take up violence themselves,
continued Sampanthan.’
Achieving Eelam by ourselves was becoming
increasingly unrealistic so we turned to India [and got] the 13th
Amendment. The rise and fall of LTTE has shown us that regardless of how strong
such movements may be, or how just its demands, it is not realistic for the
Tamils to resort to violent political struggle. Also a struggle that is built
on military might not last.
The struggle for political rights has now entered
an entirely new chapter, continued Sampanthan. Although the issue at hand is
the same, the prevailing conditions are different. In the new environment we
have found new ways of continuing with our struggle together with the support and assistance of
the international community, said Sampanthan.
An environment which may fulfill our duties is
slowly coming into existence. The world has recognized that the Tamils people
have faced continuous political persecution and that this persecution has begun
to manifest itself in new ways in recent times. The international community had
now started to exert pressure on the government. The intervention of the international
community and the pressure being exerted upon the Sri Lanka will oblige the
government to act. We must be patient, continued Sampanthan.We must work in cooperation
with the international community. We must follow their advice and also advice
them. We must prove to the international community that ‘that we will never be
able to realize our rights within a united Sri Lanka’.
We must
be patient until the international community realizes that the Sri Lanka government
will never give political power to the Tamils in a united Sri Lanka .We must be
patient till then. (Sampanthan repeats this exhortation to be patient about six
times.)
We are not defeated. We must act with wisdom and caution. The
softening of our stance in certain matters
are diplomatic strategies to ensure that we do not alienate the
international community. We have not abandoned our fundamental objectives. The
struggle is the same but the approaches we employ are different, the alliances
are different. US and India are now with
us, said Sampanthan.
Sampanthan is preaching high treason. To
counter this, Sampanthan also addressed his ‘dear Sinhala friends’. He told
them, our political aspirations to acquire the rights due to us and the right
to govern our civil, political
economic, social and cultural affairs ourselves is a reasonable demand. It is a
just aspiration with its roots in history. It is also a fundamental right of
our people. We do not seek to divide the
country. Just as you live in your homeland we also want to live in our
homeland.
This Tamil homeland is called Eelam.
The Eelam map starts north of Chilaw, goes up to Jaffna, then down the east
coast and ends at Panama. Eelam includes 1/3 of the land mass and 2/3 of Sri
Lanka‘s coastline. This means that a vast proportion of our valuable natural
resource will be held by a mere 10% of the population.
Eelam
takes in the oil producing seas near Mannar. Two successful hydrocarbon
deposits have already been found in the Mannar basin. On the east coast Eelam
gathers in the valuable Pulmoddai mineral sands, and Trincomalee harbor. The
east coast faces the Bay of Bengal along its full length. It is beautifully
positioned.
Eelam will
also get the sea around Eelam. Under UN Law of the Sea, Sri Lanka is entitled
to claim an extended area of seabed, which will amount to about 20 times Sri
Lanka‘s land area. A good chunk of this
will go to Eelam. Eelam will be getting, in the high seas, the
territorial waters, the contiguous zone, and the extended exclusive
economic zone, with its enormous untapped economic resources. (Continued)
APPENDIX 1
(1923) The word Tamil Eelam was used for the first
time in 1923, by Ponnambalam Arunachalam when he spoke before the Tamil League. In this speech he spoke of the ‘desire to
preserve our individuality as a people.’
(1931) In 1931, HAP
Sandrasagara said I will make Jaffna an
Ulster and I will be its Lord Carson.
(1935) C.S. Rajaratnam, an Indian
Tamil proctor resident in Kandy formed
the Federated Communities Progressive
Association in 1934.In 1935 Rajaratnam
presented a memorandum to the British
governor asking for three self governing federal states. North and east
for Tamil, with two other states for Kandyan Sinhalese and the Low Country Sinhalese.
(1935) In 1935, ‘ the
Tamil politicians forwarded to Britain a federal structure consisting of
3 federal states, north south Kandyan
which even the Jaffna newspapers had dismissed as impractical. (Jane Russell
“Communal politics under the Donoughmore Constitution” p 192)
(1948).
in 1948 Chelvanayagam started the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi,( ITAK) Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi means Sri
Lanka Tamil State Party”. It does not mean Federal Party. The inaugural and
first business meeting of the ITAK was held, in 1949, not in Jaffna but in Maradana at the GCSU Hall. Chelvanayagam made
his first
Presidential speech there. It was
published by ITAK and was known as the Maradana Resolution.
(1949)
HLD Mahindapala recalls that on Independence
day Feb 4, 1949 M Thiruchelvam, Neelan’s
father, then Deputy Solicitor General was seen
travelling in a car which flew the Nandi flag.
(1957) In 1957 Nadesan asked for regional autonomy. ( S Nadesan ‘Regional
autonomy’ reprinted in 1984)
(1959) In 1959 Chelvanayagam asked for
an autonomous Tamil state as a single geographical unit. (Wiswa Warnapala.
‘Ethnic strife and politics in Sri Lanka’ p 127).
(1959) In 1959
C. Suntharalingam founded the Eela
Thamil Ottrumai Munnani (Unity Front of Eelam Tamils) .
(1959) In 1959 there was a request for a ‘university for the Tamil speaking
people in the Tamil speaking areas in order to preserve their language and
culture’ This was refused (University Commission Report, 1959 p 149)
(1963) In
1963 Suntharalingam published Eylom: Beginning of the Freedom Struggle[1], where he said, I propose to invite
those Eyla (Eelath Thamils) Thamils who accept the policy that the time has
come for the partition of Ceylon and for the restoration of the Thamil state
that existed before the British took
over in 1802, to come forward and join the fight for the Freedom and
Independence of the Eyla Thamil Nation.(Wikipedia)
APPENDIX 2
VADDUKODDAI
RESOLUTION 1976.
The resolution unanimously adopted at the first national convention of the Tamil United Liberation Front held at Vaddukoddai on may 14, 1976. Chairman SJV Chelvanayakam
Whereas, throughout the centuries from the
dawn of history, the Sinhalese and Tamil nations have divided between
themselves the possession of Ceylon, the Sinhalese inhabiting the interior of
the country in its Southern and Western parts from the river Walawe to that of
Chilaw and the Tamils possessing the Northern and Eastern districts; And,
Whereas,
the Tamil Kingdom was overthrown in war and conquered by the Portuguese in 1619,
and from them by the Dutch and the British in turn, independent of the
Sinhalese Kingdoms; And,
Whereas,
the British Colonists, who ruled the territories of the Sinhalese and Tamil
Kingdoms separately, joined under compulsion the territories of the Sinhalese
and the Tamil Kingdoms for purposes of administrative convenience on the
recommendation of the Colebrooke Commission in 1833; And,
Whereas, the Tamil Leaders were in the forefront of the Freedom movement to rid Ceylon of colonial bondage which ultimately led to the grant of independence to Ceylon in 1948; And, Whereas, the foregoing facts of history were completely overlooked, and power over the entire country was transferred to the Sinhalese nation on the basis of a numerical majority
thereby reducing the Tamil nation to the
position of subject people; And,
Whereas,
successive Sinhalese governments since independence have always encouraged and
fostered the aggressive nationalism of the Sinhalese people and have used their
political power to the detriment of the Tamils by-
(a) Depriving one half of the Tamil people of
their citizenship and franchise rights thereby reducing Tamil representation in
Parliament,
(b) Making serious inroads into the
territories of the former Tamil Kingdom by a system of planned and state-aided
Sinhalese colonization and large scale regularization of recently encouraged
Sinhalese encroachments, calculated to make the Tamils a minority in their own
homeland,
(c) Making Sinhala the only official language
throughout Ceylon thereby placing the stamp of inferiority on the Tamils and
the Tamil Language,
(d) Giving the foremost place to Buddhism
under the Republican constitution thereby reducing the Hindus, Christians, and
Muslims to second class status in this Country,
(e) Denying to the Tamils equality of
opportunity in the spheres of employment, education, land alienation and
economic life in general and starving Tamil areas of large scale industries and
development schemes thereby seriously endangering their very existence in Ceylon,
(f) Systematically cutting them off from the
main-stream of Tamil cultures in South India while denying them opportunities
of developing their language and culture in Ceylon, thereby working inexorably
towards the cultural genocide of the Tamils,
(g) Permitting and unleashing communal
violence and intimidation against the Tamil speaking people as happened in
Amparai and Colombo in 1956; all over the country in 1958; army reign of terror
in the Northern and Eastern Provinces in 1961; police violence at the
International Tamil Research Conference in 1974 resulting in the death of nine
persons in Jaffna; police and communal violence against Tamil speaking Muslims
at Puttalam and various other parts of Ceylon in 1976 – all these calculated to
instill terror in the minds of the Tamil speaking people, thereby breaking
their spirit and the will to resist injustices heaped on them,
(h) By terrorizing, torturing, and imprisoning Tamil youths without trial for long periods on the flimsiest grounds,
(i) Capping it all by imposing on the Tamil
Nation a constitution drafted, under conditions of emergency without
opportunities for free discussion, by a Constituent Assembly elected on the
basis of the Soulbury Constitution distorted by the Citizenship laws resulting
in weightage in representation to the Sinhalese majority, thereby depriving the
Tamils of even the remnants of safeguards they had under the earlier
constitution, And,
Whereas,
all attempts by the various Tamil political parties to win their rights, by
co-operating with the governments, by parliamentary and extra-parliamentary
agitations, by entering into pacts and understandings with successive Prime
Ministers, in order to achieve the bare minimum of political rights consistent
with the self-respect of the Tamil people have proved to be futile; And,
Whereas,
the efforts of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress to ensure non-domination of the
minorities by the majority by the adoption of a scheme of balanced
representation in a Unitary Constitution have failed and even the meagre
safeguards provided in article 29 of the Soulbury Constitution against
discriminatory legislation have been removed by the Republican Constitution;
And,
Whereas,
the proposals submitted to the Constituent Assembly by the Ilankai Thamil Arasu
Kadchi for maintaining the unity of the country while preserving the integrity
of the Tamil people by the establishment of an autonomous Tamil State within
the framework of a Federal Republic of Ceylon were summarily and totally
rejected without even the courtesy of a consideration of its merits; And,
Whereas,
the amendments to the basic resolutions, intended to ensure the minimum of
safeguards to the Tamil people moved on the basis of the nine point demands
formulated at the conference of all Tamil Political parties at Valvettithurai
on 7th February 1971 and by individual parties and Tamil members of Parliament
including those now in the government party, were rejected in toto by the
government and Constituent Assembly; And,
Whereas, even amendments to the draft proposals relating to language, religion, and fundamental-rights including one calculated to ensure that at least the provisions of the Tamil Lanaguage (Special Provisions) Regulations of 1956 be included in the Constitution, were defeated, resulting in the boycott of the Constituent Assembly by a large majority of the Tamil members of Parliament; And,
Whereas,
the Tamil United Liberation Front, after rejecting the Republican Constitution
adopted on the 22nd of May, 1972, presented a six point demand to the Prime
Minister and the Government on 25th June, 1972, and gave three months time
within which the Government was called upon to take meaningful steps to amend
the Constitution so as to meet the aspirations of the Tamil Nation on the basis
of the six points, and informed the Government that if it failed to do so the
Tamil United Liberation Front would launch a non-violent direct action against
the Government in order to win the freedom and the rights of the Tamil Nation
on the basis of the right of self-determination; And,
Whereas,
this last attempt by the Tamil United Liberation Front to win Constitutional
recognition of the rights of the Tamil Nation without jeopardizing the unity of
the country was callously ignored by the Prime Minister and the Government;
And,
Whereas,
the opportunity provided by the Tamil United Liberation leader to vindicate the
Government’s contention that their constitution had the backing of the Tamil
people, by resigning from his membership of the National State Assembly and
creating a by-election was deliberately put off for over two years in utter
disregard of the democratic right of the Tamil voters of Kankesanthurai, and,
Whereas,
in the by-election held on the 6th February 1975, the voters of Kankesanthurai
by a preponderant majority not only rejected the Republican Constitution
imposed on them by the Sinhalese Government, but also gave a mandate to Mr.
S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, Q.C. and through him to the Tamil United Liberation Front
for the restoration and reconstitution of the Free Sovereign, Secular,
Socialist State of TAMIL EELAM.
And,
while taking note of the reservations in relation to its commitment to the
setting up of a separated state of TAMIL EELAM expressed by the Ceylon Workers
Congress as a Trade Union of the Plantation Workers, the majority of whom live
and work outside the Northern and Eastern areas,
This convention
resolves that restoration and reconstitution of the Free, Sovereign, Secular,
Socialist State of TAMIL EELAM, based on the right of self determination
inherent to every nation, has become inevitable in order to safeguard the very
existence of the Tamil Nation in this Country.
This Convention further declares – that the State of TAMIL EELAM shall consist of the people of the Northern and Eastern provinces and shall also ensure full and equal rights of citizenship of the
State of TAMIL EELAM to all Tamil speaking people living in any part of Ceylon and to Tamils of EELAM origin living in any part of the world who may opt for citizenship of TAMIL EELAM.
that the constitution of TAMIL EELAM shall be based on the principle of democratic decentralization so as to ensure the non-domination of any religious or territorial community of TAMIL EELAM by any other section.
that in the state of Tamil Eelam caste shall be abolished and the observance of the pernicious practice of untouchability or inequality of any type based on birth shall be totally eradicated and its observance in any form punished by law.
that TAMIL EELAM shall be a secular state giving equal protection and assistance to all religions to which the people of the state may belong.
that Tamil shall be the language of the State, but the rights of Sinhalese speaking minorities in Tamil Eelam to education and transaction of business in their language shall be protected on a reciprocal basis with the Tamil speaking minorities in the Sinhala State.
that Tamil Eelam shall be a Socialist State wherein the exploitation of man by man shall be forbidden, the dignity of labor shall be recognized, the means of production and distribution shall be subject to public ownership and control while permitting private enterprise in these branches within limit prescribed by law, economic development shall be on the basis of socialist planning and there shall be a ceiling on the total wealth that any individual of family may acquire.
This
Convention directs the Action Committee of the TAMIL UNITED LIBERATION FRONT to
formulate a plan of action and launch without undue delay the struggle for
winning the sovereignty and freedom of the Tamil Nation;
And this Convention
calls upon the Tamil Nation in general and the Tamil youth in particular to
come forward to throw themselves fully into the sacred fight for freedom and to
flinch not till the goal of a sovereign state of TAMIL EELAM is reached. (END)
To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? Hamlet in Shakespeare’s Hamlet
The initial two year period of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s
presidential term has been largely wasted through no fault of his. The general
public know this truth. At the beginning, the MPs of the overwhelmingly
rejected yahapalanaya, instead of assisting the then minority SLPP government
formed after his election in November 2019, threw a spanner in the works by
refusing to pass the ad hoc appropriation bill for securing the funds needed
for conducting normal civil administration until a new parliament was elected.
I for one don’t think that the voting public have forgotten how the failed
yahapalanites spurned the clearly expressed public will on that occasion and
tried to scuttle the progress of the fledgeling government in order to get the
parliamentary elections indefinitely postponed so that their own electoral
prospects would brighten as the government’s would proportionately darken due
to its inability to function freely. When the unexpected global corona pandemic
hit Sri Lanka soon after his inauguration, president Gotabaya was able to
contain it with the assistance of the dedicated health and security personnel.
But now, the government is floundering in a sea of troubles, principally due to
decisions made for him by advisors who are after goals contrary to his Vision
of Prosperity.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was reported as
having said the following at a ceremony to mark the Sri Lanka National Science
Day and Science Week in parallel with the World Science Day held at Temple
Trees on November 10, 2021. To me, it appeared that, while making these
remarks, he was not addressing them to the people sitting in front of him on
that occasion; but rather, he was soliloquizing in the imagined hearing of the
people who elected him as president:
It
was because of the failure of five years of (Yahapalanaya) that I was elected
to this post. But they (the Opposition) speak as if nothing happened during the
past two years under my rule.
To change this
system, people ought not to bring back into power the old group if they fail to
deliver what you expect of them, be it me, ministers of my government, or MPs.
Look for new ones. I don’t know how to do that, though. If we do something
good, it is necessary for everyone to cooperate for the sake of the country.
That is the duty of the Opposition. We don’t have enough funds to invest in
development. We need to bring in foreign investment. A country like ours cannot
do without foreign direct investment. We don’t have enough resources. We cannot
achieve any progress unless we do these investments.
We
had to adjust to a new normal as a result of the Covid pandemic. It’s shameful
that when a new normal is announced, they go on demonstrations or hold
meetings. Is this what is needed under a new normal? This will lead to a new
outbreak of the pandemic. Then we’ll have to close the schools again, and the
country, too. Even the Opposition should think about these things.”
(The
above is my free translation of the president’s words.)
I
see this as an obviously unintended dramatic soliloquy in which the president
reiterates by implication his sincere commitment to the pledges he has given to
the public. What he almost literally says is that he won’t try to get
elected to power again, if rejected in case he fails to deliver the promised
results like the previous unsuccessful yahapalana government. Detractors read
the president’s words as a confession of guilt for having (allegedly) misled
the public by offering false promises or as an admission of failure. In my
opinion, both interpretations are baseless, considering the constitutional
roadblocks placed on the path to recovery by the yahapalana dominated
parliament just before its dissolution by the newly elected president, and the
severity of the economic issues resulting from the global corona pandemic.
Whatever is happening now, the country owes the brightening prospects of the
arrival of a younger, less self centered generation of rulers to the
achievements as well as the defects of the shared leadership of the two
brothers Gotabaya and Mahinda Rajapaksa. The ouster of the latter in 2015 in
spite of his successful performance during his two terms was facilitated by his
own lapses as a politician and a person which, being so well known by now, need
no elaboration. Those deficiencies are even more brazenly in evidence than ever
before.
President
Gotabaya’s problem is not a straightforward existential dilemma of ‘to be, or
not to be’ that racked young prince Hamlet’s brain. It is definitely less life
threatening or less fateful than the latter’s uncertainty. Gotabaya’s concern,
instead, seems to be more mundane: it is about whether to maintain the illusion
of the macho image of himself that the success of his performance as defense
secretary during his brother Mahinda’s presidency (2005-15) persuaded his
admirers to conjure up in their minds; or whether to betray his feet of clay by
reversing the earlier, apparently ironclad, policy decisions that he committed
himself to under different circumstances. Relaxing, where necessary, his
personally preferred military rigidness, in my opinion, is the need of the
hour. Real or perceived lack of flexibility in the current situation (barring
instances where leniency is not possible such as drug busting operations) is
likely to wrack the boat that circumstances have made it his lot to
skipper.
On
an earlier occasion (opening of the new Kelani Bridge, November 6, 2021),
president Goyabaya expressed his determination to fulfill the pledges stated in
the Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour manifesto. He described in some detail
what the government had achieved amidst numerous odds stacked against it
especially due to the unprecedented and unrecognized corona pandemic that dealt
a severe blow on the country’s economy. These achievements were deliberately
ignored by the opposition, whose policies when in power led to a critical
downturn in the economy. He stressed that he worked according to a plan, from
which would not deviate, come what may. He also said he was capable of forcing
the cultivators to use organic fertilizer as through military coercion, though
that is something he would never apply; he would never violate the country’s
democracy for any reason.
Actually,
there never could be any resistance to the ban on chemical fertilizer on the
part of the poor farmers who are vulnerable to kidney disease due to drinking
water contamination caused by chemicals, provided that an effective organic
substitute is made available. (Incidentally, why not establish potable water
production plants at state expense in the most severely affected areas for
providing safe drinking water for the mostly impoverished rice cultivators at a
nominal charge or completely free?) However, this is not the time to introduce
a total ban, in view of the looming food scarcity predicted by experts. A drop
in crop productivity during the switchover is inevitable. It will affect not
only rice production, but vegetables, tea, coconut etc. I for one feel that, at
least a large enough proportion of fertilizer provided should be of the
accustomed chemical origin. Or the chemical fertilizer use could be subjected
to a scientifically calculated phasing out period of gradual elimination involving
the application of more and more organic with less and less chemical
fertilizer, particularly for food crops. Priority must be given to production
of food for domestic consumption, though producing organically grown food for
export could be more profitable in terms of foreign exchange earnings. In any
case, the organic food production industry must be rescued from the reigning
rice and fertilizer mafiosi. People will not blame the president if he turned
his hawk’s eye on them and the emerging criminals who trade in soil and rubble
mixed with chemicals, pretending it to be organic fertilizer, and hang one or
two as a warning to others who may be thinking of following their
example.
Tamil Separatist Movement says it is entitled
to ask for a separate state because the Ceylon Tamils are a separate nation”. The concept “nation’
is not a legally recognized concept, nor is it recognized in international law.
International law only recognizes the sovereign state. International law does not recognize imaginary
nations either.
The word ‘nation ‘came from the Latin’ natio’ meaning a human group of same
origin. The
word came into political use in Europe in the 19th century. Analysts
observed that European scholars used
the word ‘nation’ anyway they wished, in the 19th century and they are
doing the same in the 20th century.
Here is an assortment of definitions, which will indicate the contradictory
positions taken, regarding the word ‘nation’. .Karl Deutsch defined a ‘nation’
as “a people in possession of a state”. Peter Alter suggests that a nation is a politically
mobilized people”. Walker Connor suggests that ‘nation’ is a ” self-defined
group~. Pilsudski said that it is the state which makes the nation, not the
other way round.
Joseph Stalin, (1912) said that ‘A nation is a historically evolved,
stable, community of language, territory, economic life, and psychological makeup
manifested in a community of culture’.
To crown it all, Benedict Anderson (1983) said nation is an “imagined community’. This
means that the United Nations is a Union of Imagined Nations.
The nation states of Europe came into existence only about 200 years ago. Up
to the 19 century, Europe was governed by two large empires which covered the whole
of the European continent. The largest of these were the Holy Roman Empire,
which formally ended in 1803, the Ottoman Empire which lasted till World War 1.
(1914-1918)
Within the Holy Roman Empire there were
several ruling dynasties such as the Hapsburgs, who divided into the Spanish
Hapsburgs and the Austrian Hapsburgs. Europe at this time consisted of a mass
of small principalities, dukedoms,
bishoprics, fiefs, each with a separate administration. Germany alone consisted
of about 360 independent states. The various states went with various royal
houses, like private property. They were
exchanged among the various ruling houses, through royal marriage alliances.
Some nations formed slowly. France was the earliest but slowest to turn
into sovereign state. It took nearly 4 centuries. From the 10 century France
had a continuous hereditary monarchy and a political centre in Paris. From
here, over time, the kings annexed adjacent territory, such as Burgundy,
Brittany, Normandy, and Toulouse, to form today’s Republic of France.
England had little difficulty in declaring itself a nation, in the 16 century
because it was an island. Similarly Spain and Netherlands both jutted out to
sea and had one border each with mainland Europe. Once that border was settled,
they were on their way to becoming sovereign states. Italy and Germany unified
through wars of unification starting in 1848. German unification was completed
in 1871.Italy settled the matter during World War I.
Political unification did not automatically create a ‘nation state’. In
Italy, Massimo d’Azeglio’s,
Prime Minister of Sardinia, said “We have made Italy, now we have to make
Italians”. Bismarck, Chancellor of the newly united
Germany, had to create a unified German state from the bunch of independent
princely states that were brought under the King of Prussia.
Hobsbaum pointed out that the real push towards nation states was not
cultural, it was economic. There was a significant expansion of trade and
commerce in Europe during this time. There was an increase in the number of cities, also trading and business houses
and the middle class expanded. Roads and bridges led to better
communication. In Germany, an important
milestone in its unification was the creation of the Zollverein, a customs union
which included all the German states. Customs barriers between the states were
eliminated and a common tariff created, leading to a sort of commercial union.
Europe in the 18 century was also notable for significant advances in political
philosophy. It was the age of Voltaire, Montesquieu, Rousseau and Adam Smith.
These thinkers commented, inter alia, on economy and government. Their writings
which actually reflected the utter backwardness of Europe were thereafter treated as universal
pronouncements of staggering importance and studied all over the world.
The French Revolution of 1789 and the administration reforms of Napoleon
also influenced political thinking. The idea of nation state and constitutional
government became popular. In 1848 there was a wave of activity all over
Europe, with demands for state constitutions.
Countries which were under western rule used the European concept of nation
to formulate a reason for demanding independence
from the imperial powers. Ceylon
did not need to declare it a nation to obtain independence. It had been a well recognized monarchical
state before, but the Tamil Separatist Movement took the opportunity to declare
that it was a separate nation.
The Communist Party of Ceylon supported the Tamils. In 1944 Communist Party presented a
memorandum on a federal constitution to the Ceylon National Congress. They said
that the Tamils were historically evolved nation, living in a contiguous
territory in their traditional homeland, speaking a common language, with a community
of culture. They were entitled to self determination. The definition is
straight out of Stalin’s definition in his Marxism and the national question”
observed analysts. The memorandum had
been drafted by Pieter Keuneman and A Vaidilingam. (continued)
Myanmar is one of Bangladesh’s closest
neighbors with historic connectivity going back centuries. The 271 km long
Bangladesh-Myanmar border is very important for Bangladesh due to its strategic
position, although at present the area is militarized due to its ongoing
internal conflicts. Were this to be resolved, Bangladesh could develop routes
via Myanmar to access China to the east, and other southeast Asian countries to
the south.
On the other hands, Vietnam is very closed to
Bangladesh and Myanmar geographically. Thailand is a neighboring state of
Myanmar. Vietnam can be able to access in South Asia through Bangladesh,
Myanmar and Thailand. There is a huge potential of Vietnamese products in the
region. If Vietnam connects itself with Bangladesh-Myanmar-Thailand-India
connectivity project and Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar connectivity corridor, Vietnam
would benefit. A huge potential is waiting for Vietnam. If the two projects can
be implemented truly, Vietnam will be gainer in this regard. Bangladesh-Myanmar
improved ties is very needed in this regard. Vietnam is a very friendly country
to both Myanmar and Bangladesh
Vietnam can also use Bangladesh, Myanmar,
Cambodia and Thailand as a transportation route to reach markets such as Nepal,
Bhutan, and India, Pakistan, Afghanistan. Both Bangladesh and Myanmar are
members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and
Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), an organization consisting of Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand that seeks to foster
regional and economic cooperation. Vietnam can and should join BIMSTEC to
utilize the benefits. Being a hub between South East Asian and South Asian country,
Vietnam can use the routes to enter in the Bay of Bengal and Indian ocean
easily through Myanmar and Bangladesh. Then it would be able to bolster its
trade ties with South Asia, Central Asia and Middle East Asia.
Bangladesh is a Southeast Asian country and
can be used as an important hub to connect ASEAN and the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). members of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka is difficult. Myanmar too, as
an ASEAN member, can access the SAARC free-trade bloc through Bangladesh. Such
a way, Thailand would benefit economically to boost up their trade ties.
Vietnam will be able to ensure its maximum business interest. Vietnam can
access into the market of India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,
Afghanistan and Central Asia easily through Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand.
Myanmar and Bangladesh have also resolved a
dispute over their maritime borders through the International Court of Justice.
As a result, the rights of Bangladesh have been established in an area of
1,11,000 square kilometers. Myanmar’s waters have also been properly
identified. Bangladesh-Myanmar-Thailand-Vietnam has potential to invest in
maritime business in the Bay of Bengal. These countries should utilize and
extract the maritime resource from the maritime zone. Blue economy can bring
benefit for Bangladesh-Myanmar-Vietnam also.
The
proposed construction of the Asian Highway, funded by the Asian Development
Bank can increase land connectivity between the two countries and increase
trade in products such as fertilizers, plastics, cement, and furniture,
etc. Vietnam should and can join the project to ensure its maximum
business interest. Vietnamese entrepreneurs can utilize
to ensure their business interest by investing in Bangladesh’s agriculture,
food processing, shipbuilding, electronics, leather, jute, light engineering
and handicraft industries.
Myanmar and Vietnam which at present does
have sophisticated manufacturing, can import electronics and pharmaceutical
products that are readily produced from Bangladesh and benefit from the
technology transfer. Bangladesh-Myanmar-Vietnam has potential of rice and fishery
production. Trilateral effort is very needed here. Bangladeshi medicines,
agricultural products garments, footwear and leather goods, knitwear,
pharmaceuticals, tableware, home textiles, textiles, seafood and marine
products, tea, potatoes, jute and jute products, light engineering products,
spices, cosmetics and ceramics, Toilets, etc. can be exported easily to Vietnam
through Myanmar and Thailand.
According to Bangladeshi media outlets, Vietnam exported clothes, shoes, electronics, seafood, oil, rice
and coffee to Bangladesh. the other hand, Bangladesh has exported Oven Garments
and Knitwear, Plastic, Jute and Jute Good, Leather to Vietnam. Trade between
the two countries can be further enhanced by enhancing mutual cooperation,
sending trade delegations and conducting joint research activities to explore
new business opportunities.
But
one of the major problems is the lack of adequate transport links for the
expansion of bilateral trade between the two countries. Both countries are
working to resolve this transportation issue and are in the process of joining
the Asian Highway Network, which is expected to address this issue. Bangladesh
and Vietnam are longstanding friends and connected by the Bay of Bengal and
maritime routes, Bangladesh-Myanmar-Thailand-Vietnam should intensify
cooperation in trade, investment and regional connectivity.
According
to Bangladeshi media outlets. Bangladesh-Myanmar-Vietnam trilateral relations
matters for ensuring great regional interest. Huge growth is possible in trilateral
trade amongst the three nations.
Bangladesh will able to create a dedicated economic zone for Vietnamese
investors, and pledge to extend all-out support. Bangladesh, Myanmar and Vietnam
can Boost cooperation under the BIMSTEC framework.
China is now the biggest investor in Myanmar.
China has invested over US$3 billion since the 2016-2017 fiscal year. One of
the most strategic components of these investments is the US$1.3 billion
Kyaukphyu deep seaport, which when completed, can provide China’s Yunnan
province a shortcut to the Indian Ocean. Thailand can extract some
benefits from the investments for its own gain.
The country’s biggest economic advantage for
Myanmar is that they are a member of ASEAN. ASEAN controls about 24 percent of
total world trade and its share in world trade is growing yearly. ASEAN’s trade
relations with China, Japan, and South Korea are deepening due to the increase
in trade and the upcoming RCEP agreement. ASEAN countries account for more than
50 percent of total trade between themselves and these three countries.
Bangladesh
is keen to provide assistance to Myanmar. Covid-19 vaccine distribution and
counter-terrorism training are some areas for cooperation. The Rohingya refugee
problem has, however, created some tension between the two countries, and find
the solution can serve the longer-term interests of Bangladesh and Myanmar even
Vietnam also. Myanmar and Bangladesh should solve
this problem to serve its own and reginal interest. Myanmar should understand
that it is the issue of the region. Whole South Asia and South East Asia may be
volatile and unstable for this problem.
Vietnam
can play a very significant role in this regard. Vietnam can mediate to bolster
the strained relations between Bangladesh-Myanmar. Vietnam can play to
repatriate the Rohingyas in Rakhine in Myanmar. Vietnam can easily resolve the
problem because it has a very good relations with Myanmar. However, Vietnam can support for
Bangladesh’s bid for membership in Mekong-Ganga Cooperation Forum and the ASEAN
Sectoral Partnership. Bangladesh and Vietnam can closely cooperate in different
regional forums including BISMTEC, ARF, ASEM, and AMED and multilateral forums
including UN, WTO and ITU.
However,
the three countries can also increase production in the agricultural sector
through joint ventures. Apart from adopting joint investment projects,
Bangladesh can increase imports of various agricultural products including
pulses, spices, fish and rice. Thus, enhancing trilateral relations could
contribute to the growth of trade and investment relations with ASEAN and
BIMSTEC countries. This will create an opportunity to solve the Rohingya
problem and stop militant activities. Therefore, Myanmar should take effective
steps to strengthen bilateral relations to connect the South East Asia with
South Asia. Vietnam should and can play an effective role to motivate Myanmar
to bolster ties with Bangladesh. Benefit is waiting not only for Myanmar but
also for Vietnam.
While welcoming that policy decision of
the Government who can say that this is not another election gundu to deceive
the people aimed at the proposed Provincial Council Elections? If the
Government was really honest and concerned about public good it should have
abolished this joke as Canada had done it in 1995, without continuing an
unwanted bonanza to trap politicians cunningly used as bait by party leaders, that
blead the nation.
The Mike Harris government eliminated
MPPs’ pension plans following the 1995 provincial election. Even it is allowed
in exceptional cases like in Canada a pension to a politician should be paid
only after 65 years when they are disabled to earn a living.
Why pay pensions to politicians at
all who volunteer and swear to serve the people at elections and rob and
destroy the entire nation
The Government in its Budget speech
has proposed that MPP will be eligible for a pension only after completing 10
years continuous service”
My question is why pay a pension at
all to any politician in this country Because paying a pension to any
politician is contrary to all basic principles related to the principle of
paying pensions accepted all over the world. Because the origin of the idea of
paying a pension has begun in the world first for people over 70 years in old
age for the continuous service, they have rendered to the nation who are
disabled to make their living, as a mark of gratitude for the devoted service
they have rendered to the nation or the company for life.
The man behind the initiative called
The Old Age and Disability Bill” was Otto von Bismarck. of the German Empire. Germany was thus the
first European country to establish a fully-fledged pensions system for workers
aged 70 or more. The limit was lowered to 65 in 1916.June.
In 1875, The American Express Co.
created the first private pension plan in the U.S. for the elderly and workers
with disabilities. Early pension benefits were designed to pay out a relatively
low percentage of the employee’s pay at retirement and were not designed to
replace the employee’s full final income.
In this country it was started by the
colonial Government to make a payment in their old age for the dedicated
service they had rendered to the Empire. Subsequently it was extended to
retired public servant who had completed 35 years of satisfactory service in
the public service. As such there was full justification for a man or a woman
who has devoted his or her service to the nation in her or his whole life while
debarring any other job while one is in engaged in public service as his or her
only income for living comes to an end the day he/she retires. But it should be
noted that to get that benefit they had also to contribute a certain percentage
monthly from their salary for which the Government contributed a certain
percentage. Therefore, in fact they are paid from a reserve fund maintained by
the Government out of funds they have contributed throughout their service.
What is more is they have to complete 35 years of service to get qualified to
get that pension. When someone retires prematurely the pension is freeze until
he reaches the age of 55. This clearly shows that there is a very sound
rationale for paying a pension to a retired public servant and it is fully
justified both rationally and ethically.
Now let us
examine the rationale of paying a pension to a politician in this country.
Paying pensions to politicians in this country was started in 1977 by the JR
Jayawardhana Government. Curiously it was the first legal enactment of the
so-called Democratic Socialist Government of JR. passed by Act No 1 of his government
as if it was the most burning public issue his government had to solve. Doesn’t
this show the degree of concern and commitment our politicians have towards the
welfare of the people who elevate them to high position by electing them with a
5/6th majority in 1977 hoping to get a better deal than from the
previous Government of Mrs Bandaranayaka. What is more hilarious and despicable
is this piece of legislation marked the turning point in Sri Lankan political
culture where the interests of the politicians overtook that of the subjects in
a country that inherited a rich legacy of public goo enshrined in the concept
of the Buddhist teaching Bahujana hitaaya Bahujana sukhaaya” (for the good of
the many and for their happiness at large) for 2500 years.
What is even more despicable is that it was awarded to
all politicians who complete 5 years service” irrespective of whether they
served the people or not. The funniest part of it was the payment of that
pension to his /her spouse after the death of the MP. Further his family will
get another pension if his or her son or daughter had been appointed as the
Private Secretary a tradition that had come to stay as a political privilege. Payment
of pensions under this scheme was made with retrospective effect and it was
payable even to politicians who served in the State Council if they were living
with arrears.
Only one man refused to accept this blood money in the
history of Parliament. He returned it to Speaker. The man mentioned here was my
good friend M.S. Themis the 3rd MP for Colombo Central in 1956.He
was the first person and perhaps the only man to return it. I know it for
certain as I was the one who prepared the covering letter to the Speaker.
This piece of legislation was also a complete
violation of the Pension minute which
nobody dared to challenge or even question up to date either in a court of law
or Parliament that is said to be the Supreme lawmaking body in the country.
Isn’t it interesting to note how our Law makers make laws and for whose benefit
they make them in this so-called supreme legislature of the country expected to
make laws for good governance for the good of the people and the good of the
country at large?
JR did not stop at that. He did
everything to enhance the fabulous benefit package to MPP with immediate effect.
He dramatically increased salaries, increase payments for attending Parliament,
official vehicles with duty free vehicle permits were also provided, which they
could sell in the open market and make a fabulous fortune. Official quarters in
Colombo were also given where as they had to be in Colombo only for 8 days a
month. Unlimited job permits for MPP to give employment for their party
supporters only, monopoly of tavern license, business permits and government
contracts, LRC land nationalized by Mrs B for a song and government Import
permits. The sky was the limit to such
privileges. Here I stop the list for brevity and lack of space. All this was
done to buy over the MPP to maintain the majority in Parliament to embellish
and consolidate his dictatorial position as the Executive President which
perhaps he thought is a lifetime job, but unfortunately not.
The same corrupt and highway robbery situation
still continues in incremental scale without being openly questioned or
challenged by anyone in the ‘People’s Parliament. So much so today the whole
system of governance in this country has become a veritable national liability.
JR also increased the number of MPP in
Parliament from 196 to 225 by introducing a thing called a National list to
provide a place in Parliament for their kith and kin and family friends as
backdoor MPP bypassing the elections and thus making Representative Parliament
a ”Non-representative thereby making representative democracy a big fast and a hilarious
joke. Instead of reducing it to 165 the previous number that would have save
billions for national development and reduced IMF and other foreign loans
thereby reducing the annual budget deficits and avoiding bankruptcy.
On the top of this JR also signed an
Agreement with Rajiv Ghandi completely handing over the North and East
comprising 1/3 of the land of the country and 2/3rd of the coastal
belt together with the maritime territory adjacent to it as the Traditional
Historical Homeland of the Tamil people completely forgetting the fact that the
only Traditional Historical Homeland of Tamil people on earth exists only in Tamilnadu
South India. (See Rajiv /JR Indo Lanka Accord of 29th July 1987 for
a full list of JR’S betrayal ) Thereby he committed an unpardonable criminal
offence against the Sinhala Buddhist nation by selling 1/3 of the homeland of
the Sinhala nation that had been their motherland from the inception of known
human history and also thereby making the way for annihilating the Sinhala
nation and the Mother land of the
Sinhala nation as he had once predicted in his public speeches where he said
the Sinhala nation will be extinct in
another 25 years.
What was even more traitorous was the
Agreement to establish 9 Provincial Councils co-terminus with the British made
Provinces to divide the country in to nine independent governing units making
the way for the establishment of Future EELAM -the dream land of Prabhaharan to
erase the 2500 year old Sinhala Kingdom from the surface of this earth.
Each of these Provinces to be
governed by a Governor, a board of 5 Ministers headed by a Chief Minister and
an army of Provincial councilors of
about 700 low grade politicians supported by a some 14,000 Pradesiya Sabha
(double the number that was there before. Politically this system lead to quasi-Federal
status leading to a Federal state to begin with, with (1) a Tamilnadu
comprising the North, East, Central, Sabaragamuwa and Uva only for Tamils, amalgamated
under the provisions in the Rajiv/JR Accord
for amalgamation 2 or more
Provinces comprising 2/3 of the area of the Island, a mono Tamil state and the
balance 1/3 for a multi racial community including Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims
and all others, leading to a virtual pickle and an eternal battle ground of ethnic,
religious and social crises that will finally lead to the extinction of
the 2500 year old Sinhala Buddhist
civilization from the surface of this earth.
What is more depressing is already
this provincial council system has wasted trillions (Koti- Prakoti) of public
funds for the upkeep of new political
creations for no benefit to the country but benefiting only the politicians,
from 1987 to date . It has been said that 85% of national tax collection is spent
for the upkeep of politicians and so-called public officials in this country leaving
only 15 % left for all other work concerning the country and 21millions
citizens. I do not propose to say a word about the lawlessness, corruption and
international debts to the tune of 56 billion US $ as at present dragging the
country to the bottom of abject poverty and bankruptcy converting this once
proud nation and second richest country in South East Asia second only to Japan
by 1948 but now to a nation with a begging bowl going round the world and have
already taken loans even from Bangladesh and Maldives the latest.
This is the pathetic situation in to
which this proud and rich nation which gave Sterling loans even to the British
Empire in early 1950s has been put by our politicians who are supposed to have
ruled this Island nation from 1948 up to date.
And mind you it is to this kind of
politicians who have robbed the nation hook, line and sinker and also those who
continue to do the same game and jointly responsible for making this country a
debt ridden and begging country this peracetic and good for nothing governments
continue to give a fat pension extracting from the beggar’s bowl
In this back drop as for me, I
strongly oppose a single scent been given to any politician as a pension. In addition,
I also suggest that all extraordinary benefits like palatial official mansions
and all other benefits like official vehicles, security and other benefits be
withdrawn forthwith before the masses march in thousands and forcibly take over
all these public assets as a protest against what they have done to this
country and the Sinhala nation over the past 73 years.
This includes all politicians including the
ex-Presidents and their rich widows. However, I am not against for paying a
pension to an honest politician like C W.W Kannangara who has devoted his
entire life for the service to the people and the country and who had done an
indelible and memorable service to the nation, after passing a resolution in
Parliament to that effect. That will definitely prevent self- seeking wealth
mongering people doing politics and limit it to men and women of outstanding character,
dignity and commitment to the service of people.
Finally I propose first, the immediate
abolition of the pension scheme to all politicians and second, appointment of a
powerful Presidential or a public Commission to enquire in to the illicit and
illegitimate earnings of all politicians at all levels starting from 1977 up to
date and confiscate all illicitly earned assets proved, both at home and abroad
such as Pandora assets and credit all that wealth to the General Treasury
Account so that people will get back all their wealth robbed by politicians at
least from 1977 onwards so that all those who aspire to be politicians in
future in this country will begin with a new political vision opening the doors
to a new political culture setting a Sri Lankan model for the entire world and
once again restore the ancient glory of this Island nation.
Sri-Lanka
is located ideally for a direct maritime or short sea
connectivity with many countries in the region.
As an island economy, Sri Lanka’s regional connectivity has been mainly through
its main seaport in Colombo, for south Asian countries.
The ports of Chittagong in
Bangladesh and the ports of Colombo and Hambantota in Sri Lanka are located
nearly 1515 nautical miles from each other.
Robust, smooth connectivity and linkages between these ports would
ensure and facilitate more shipping, tourism and investments between the two
countries. Education and sports are other areas of collaboration between the
two nations.
On the other hand, Bangladesh
and Thailand are near neighbors, connected by the Bay of Bengal. The
development of these maritime ties would benefit both countries in terms
of trade, investment, and regional communications.
The two countries are in talks
to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) to boost trade and investment. Bangladesh
is geographically positioned as a gateway between ASEAN and SAARC with
potential access to both for each other’s export-driven manufacturers. ASEAN
includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, while SAARC includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
The Chittagong seaport is the
main seaport in Bangladesh. 90 percent of Bangladeshi trade is conducted through
the Chattagram Port Terminal, with the rest being taken up by Bangladesh’s
Ports at Mangla and Payra.
Thailand’s Ranong Port is
situated on the Kraburi River of the Kra Peninsula, across from Myanmar and on
the Indian Ocean, coast and lies 1,220km from Chittagong.
Thailand’s Southern Economic
Corridor project, approved by the Government in August 2018, emphasizes the
development of Ranong port as a gateway to trade with Bangladesh, India,
Myanmar, and Sri Lanka. Using Ranong port for trade with Bangladesh’s
Chittagong, Payra, and Mangla ports will reduce the distance between the two
countries and boost trade. Then this connectivity can then be extended to
India’s Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai ports, Iran’s Chabahar through Lankan
Colombo port.
The launch of direct shipping
services amongst Colombo, Mumbai, Chennai, Chittagong and Ranong ports has
received a new push as trade amongst the countries is increasing.
Sri Lankan foreign minister GL
Peiris recently met his Bangladeshi counterpart AK Abdul Momen in Dhaka and
expressed interest in collaborating in the shipping field, with cooperation
between the ports of Chittagong and Colombo and Hambantota. He emphasised on
feeder services and coastal shipping arrangements. Both discussed bilateral commercial ties.
Cooperation
on a transshipment hub would be beneficial to Bangladesh because of the
reduction of time and nautical miles, a Bangladeshi newspaper reported.
Sri
Lanka’s investment in Bangladesh is around $2.5 billion. About 110 Sri Lankan
companies are operating in Bangladesh. The annual bilateral trade volume is now
around $200 million.
Sri
Lanka is keen on a preferential
trade agreement with Bangladesh and is happy that technical negotiations
have commenced and are proceeding, Peiris said.
On the other hand, Bilateral
trade between Bangladesh and Thailand reached US$837.08 million in 2019-20.
Bangladesh’s total exports to Thailand in 2020 were US$35.46 million while
imports from Thailand were worth US$801.3 million, very much in Thailand’s
favor.
Bangladeshi exports to Thailand
are on an upward trend, however. This year exported values are expected to
reach just under US$40 million, a 12 percent increase YoY.
According to FDI stock data in
Bangladesh, Thailand is the 15th largest investor in the country. This however
would increase significantly if an FTA can be agreed upon, and the two
countries build direct maritime connectivity between Chittagong and Ranong
ports.
There is precedent. When
Bangladesh signed FTA with the SAARC members in 2006, its imports and exports
doubled within ten years, being a relatively constant (there was a dip in 2011)
and sustainable 10% GDP growth in trade per annum.
In terms of commodities,
Thailand mainly exports cement, cereals, plastics, man-made staple fibers, sugar
and sugar confectionery, machinery and mechanical equipment, cotton and cotton
cloth, salt, sulfur, clay, stone, and mineral fuels to Bangladesh.
In the reverse direction,
Bangladesh exports garments, vegetables, textile fibers, garments, animal products,
electrical and electronic equipment, frozen fish, and crustaceans to
Thailand.
Direct sea connectivity between
Chittagong and Ranang can be expected to play an important role in expanding
trade and commerce between the two countries. The time and cost of transporting
goods between them can be reduced by 30 percent and are likely to play a key
role in building ties with other Southeast Asian countries, including Myanmar
and India. The introduction of direct shipping between the two countries will
encourage traders from both to expand their regional trade and investment.
Thailand could increase trade
ties with India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka under the framework of the Bay of
Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
The establishment of trade and
economic corridors through coordination between the Look East Policy of India
and Bangladesh and the Look West Policy of Thailand and the establishment of
connectivity through coastal shipping is likely to bring prosperity for all.
Dhaka is additionally counting
on Bangkok’s support for Bangladesh’s bid for membership in the Mekong-Ganga
Cooperation Forum as well as the ASEAN Sectoral Partnership.
Thailand and Bangladesh are also
both active partners in the Belt and Road Initiative. If Chittagong and Ranong
port connectivity can be extended to Iran’s Chabahar port through Sri Lanka’s
Colombo and the International North South Transport Corridor project (INSTC)
through to Central Asia and Turkey, this will create significant trade
potential.
Although the Maritime Assistance
Agreement between Bangladesh and Thailand was completed in 1986 and is
currently in force, changes need to be made to bring these opportunities to
fruition. But the Bangladesh and Thailand can renew the agreement for ensuring
their business interests.
Progress is being
made. Thai ambassador to Bangladesh, Makawadee Sumitmor stated at a
bilateral business meeting with the Chittagong World Trade Center in September
this year that there is a trade gap between the two countries. She also said
that the expansion of the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral route will boost
trade in this region and that she was waiting for the signing of a memorandum
of understanding between Thai authorities and the Chittagong Port Authority to
establish direct shipping links by sea.
There are huge opportunities for
Thai investors in infrastructure, light engineering, agriculture and food
processing, and tourism and healthcare. Thailand and Bangladesh both could and
should utilize these potentials. But smooth connectivity is needed to boost the
Trade. Colombo, Mumbai, Chennai, Chittagong and Ranong port connectivity would
boost up the trade, expansion of tourism. India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and
Thailand can both benefit from this mutually rewarding sea connectivity
project.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) probing allegations against Secretary to the President, Dr. P.B. Jayasundera, as regards the opening of a new account at the Town Hall Branch of the People’s Bank under the name ‘United Farmers Trust Limited’ (UFTL) on Oct.18 for the payment of nano-urea ordered from the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO), has questioned Secretary to State Ministry of Agriculture M.N. Ranasinghe.
Declaring that the Indian High Commission in Colombo had facilitated nano-urea imports, Agriculture Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage recently assured Parliament that payment had been made to the UFTL account as the outfit functioned as IFFCO’s local agent.
The former Controller General of Immigration and Emigration Department is among those so far questioned by the CID. At the onset of the investigation, the police questioned Mahinda Illeperuma, the editor of ‘Aruna’ over their coverage of a statement made in Parliament by JVP MPVijitha Herath on Oct 22.
The Chairman of Colombo Commercial Fertilisers Ltd., Methsiri Wijegunawardena, too, has been asked to furnish a statement to the CID in this regard.
M.N. Ranasinghe is the Secretary to the State Ministry of Organic Fertilizer Production, Supply and Regulation and the Paddy and Grains, Organic Food, Vegetables, Fruits, Chillies, Onion and Potato Cultivation Promotion, Seed Production and Advanced Technology for Agriculture. Shasheendra Rajapaksa received appointment as the State Minister on July 8, 2021.
Denying MP Herath’s allegations, Dr. Jayasundera has lodged a complaint with the CID.
The President’s Media Division (PMD) has quoted Dr. Jayasundera as saying that the opening of an account in a State bank ‘is an act between the relevant bank and the account holder. It is the responsibility of the bank to act in accordance with the standard procedures in this regard.
MP Vijitha Herath yesterday (23) told The Island that the government should make a special statement in this regard in Parliament. Welcoming the CID investigation into the newly formed UFTL opening a new account under controversial circumstances at the Union Place branch of the People’s Bank, the Gampaha District MP said that the order placed for nano urea should be investigated taking into consideration the rejection of organic fertilizer consignment ordered from Qingdao Seawin Biotech Ltd. China on the basis of it being contaminated. The latter has challenged the rejection in court and demanded the company be compensated to the tune of USD 8 mn.
The MP pointed out that the PMD had stated that the rejected consignment was a part of the order worth about Rs 1 bn.
The JVP MP said that the Attorney General had moved the Colombo Commercial Court against Qingdao Seawin Biotech Chinese Company, its local agent Chelina Capital Corporation and the People’s Bank. The court has extended the enjoining order issued in respect of the submissions made by the AG till Dec 3.
Responding to another query, MP Herath said that the Opposition expected the government to explain why orders for nano urea and organic fertilizer had been placed via UFTL and Chelina Capital Corporation, respectively, at the expense of the state enterprises namely Colombo Commercial Fertilisers and Lak Pohora.
Herath questioned the circumstances under which the state enterprises had been prevented from placing orders. It would be pertinent to mention that the government had placed the order for nano urea following a dispute with Chinese organic fertiliser, MP Herath said.
The JVPer urged the CID to submit at least an interim report on its investigation to the Parliament through the Public Security Ministry.
The issue at hand is whether the price of the consignment had been manipulated, the MP said, adding that initially, the price of a 500 ml bottle had been quoted at USD 12.45 though subsequent allegations and negotiations involving all stakeholders brought the price down to USD 10 per bottle. Of the 2.125 mn litres that had been ordered from IFFCO, only a part had been received so far and the arrangements were being made to airlift the rest, sources told The Island.
An enjoining order has been obtained in respect of the Chinese carbonic fertiliser matter only. There was no legal issue pertaining to the nano urea imports, sources said.
Herath said that the government should explain how it intended to address China blacklisting the People’s Bank over the enjoining order issued by the Colombo Commercial High Court to stay the payment for Chinese fertiliser.
The JVPer said that parliamentary watchdog committees should examine both cases. In addition to MP Herath, Samagi Jana Balavegaya MP Patali Champika Ranawaka has launched a scathing attack on the government over nano urea imports.
