Courtesy CNA

COLOMBO: Authorities in Sri Lanka on Saturday (Oct 24) closed at least two fishery harbours and many stalls after a surge of 609 cases linked to the country’s main fish market.

The government also widened the curfew in parts of Colombo. At least 11 villages were isolated in the densely populated Western province, which includes the capital.

Health authorities on Wednesday temporarily closed the fish market on Colombo’s outskirts after 49 traders tested positive for the coronavirus. By Saturday, the number of cases went up to 609.

Hundreds of traders and fishermen are being tested.

Authorities say the outbreak is related to a cluster in a garment factory early this month, which has grown to 3,426 cases, almost half the country’s total of 6,287. It broke a two-month lull in infections.

Several thousand people have been asked to quarantine at home. Schools and key public offices are closed, gatherings banned and restrictions imposed on public transport.Advertisement

Sri Lanka has had 14 deaths since March.

Courtesy Lancashire Telegraph

What More UK director Tony Grimshaw OBE has unveild the company’s new export destination

ONE OF the county’s most notable exporters has announced plans to extend its international reach further still with a deal to trade with Sri Lanka.

Padiham-based What More UK hopes that the deal, which will make its range of home accessories available to the 20 million inhabitants of Sri Lanka, will encourage other British firms to consider the opportunities that could lie ahead thanks to thinking internationally.

This comes only weeks after the company unveiled a similar deal with the Central American republic of Costa Rica and less than a year after the firm added Senegal, in West Africa, to its list of export destinations.

What More director Tony Grimshaw OBE said: British companies have lots of advantages over other countries when it comes to export.

For one thing the UK is ideally positioned geographically for export and we have a reputation for building top quality products that are made to last.

That’s why all our products have prominent British branding with an easily recognisable Made in Britain logo.”

Since 2009 the economy of Sri Lanka has grown by an average of 5.3% each year firmly placing it in the category of Asian Tiger Economy and now joins 75 other countries around the world that Padiham’s What More exports to.

The firms will hope that deals like this will help to illuminate the continuing importance of the UK manufacturing sector, which still makes up around 20% of the economy at places the UK in the top 10 manufacturing nations in the world and have also been keen to stress the firm’s environmentally friendly methods.

Good produced at the company’s facility in Altham include storage boxes, kitchen and cookware, garden ware and products for the home laundry and utility room.

All of these are made from single use plastics diverted from landfill.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Hilton Colombo has temporarily suspended operations after one of its employees has tested positive for COVID-19, the Daily Mirror learns.

When contacted, the hotel confirmed that it had temporarily halted operations since Friday but failed to share more details. The hotel is expected to release a statement shortly. Health officers from the Colombo Municipal Council confirmed that a positive COVID-19 patient was found from the area where the hotel was located but could not confirm whether it was from the hotel premises. Further investigations are ongoing.

The Daily Mirror learns that Galle Face Hotel has also temporarily suspended operations. The area PHI has informed the hotel to halt operations and all hotel staff will be subjected to a PCR test today.

Shangri La hotel has also been informed by the PHI to cancel some key events scheduled to take place at the hotel but it is not confirmed if this is due to the detection of a positive patient or as a precautionary measure. The hotel is expected to release a statement shortly. (JAMILA HUSAIN)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Diana Gamage yesterday said she would continue to support President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to build the nation.

Speaking during an adjournment debate in the House, she said she decided to support President Gotabaya as she felt he is capable of building the nation.

During his tenure as the Defence Secretary he did a lot of work. Thousands use walking tracks built by him,” she said.

She said the country does not need a President without powers. We need a powerful President. Why should we spend funds and hold a presidential election and tie the President’s hands and throw him into a river expecting him to swim? He will not be able to swim when his hands are tied,” she added.

I would have voted in favour of the 20th Amendment even if Sajith Premadasa was the President of this country.” (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

While claiming that the Brandix Apparel Ltd. should take the responsibility for the second wave of the COVID-19, National Peoples’ Power (NPP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake said yesterday a thorough investigation should be carried out against the company and take necessary action.

Moving the adjournment debate on COVID-19, he told parliament that Brandix had acted in an irresponsible manner where they had neglected health guidelines.

It is reported that Brandix had neglected health conditions of their workers. The factory had forced them to work disregarding their health condition. When the workers were complaining of fever and vomiting, they had only been given painkillers and forced to work. The factory had only been concerned on reaching their production targets,” he said and added that negligence of the factory was very clear as more than 1,000 workers were reported as infected within two days.

He said the laws should be equally applied to this factory as well.

Mr. Dissanayake said the government should investigate the allegations that some people arrived from India and had gone into the Brandix factory without undergoing proper quarantine process.

He said the second wave was spreading fast compared to the first one and added that it was spreading into the community now.

The government should reveal whether the COVID-19 is under control or spreading into the community now. The government should explain it with facts and figures,” he said. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

he World Health Organisation (WHO) had informed the Health Ministry that a vaccine approved by the WHO may be available for COVID-19 shortly and the ministry was preparing for that, Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said yesterday.

In her reply speech on the adjournment debate, she told Parliament that the WHO had instructed the ministry to prepare the country for the vaccine.

The WHO has advised us to prepare the country for the vaccine. They have not informed us exactly what the injection is. The ministry is preparing for that at the moment,” she said.

The Minister said even though the opposition claimed that COVID-19 had spread in the community, none of the health ministry or the epidemiology unit has confirmed it as yet.

It is a technical matter to confirm whether COVID-19 has spread into the community. It should be done according to criteria of the WHO,” she said. (Ajith Siriwardana and Yohan Perera)

Sheain Fernandopulle Courtesy Adaderana

Even though the Government had shortcomings in their past decisions with regard to containing the COVID-19 virus, the recent decisions taken by the Government are satisfactory, and if it continues in this manner, the situation would gradually return to normalcy, Public Health Inspectors Union of Sri Lanka (PHIUSL) said.

Its Secretary M. Balasooriya told Daily Mirror the health and law enforcement authorities were doing their best in promptly tracing cases and attending whenever there was a positive case.

It is of utmost importance to maintain this momentum in order to successfully contain the virus and return to normalcy,” he said.

Commenting on whether there is a necessity to go for a countrywide lockdown, he said neither the country nor the people can afford to go for a total lockdown as it would adversely affect the country’s economy and livelihood of people.

Therefore, imposing the quarantine curfew to high-risk areas where movements must be restricted, is a good option. However, if the situation seems to be getting worse, there is no other option than looking for strict steps for the security of the whole people.”

Meanwhile, he claimed that several Public Health Inspectors have come under verbal attack and threat when they direct certain individuals for the quarantine process.

Several of their members had come under threat when they were involved in placing people under quarantine process in the areas like Divulapitiya and Minuwangoda.

Although the majority of people corporate with them, some individuals ignore their instructions violating quarantine guidelines.

This is because people are too in high stress and feel unconformable when they are placed under quarantine,” Balasooriya said.

Hence, we don’t blame them. We have also instructed our respective inspectors not to be harsh on them but calmly explain the gravity of the situation in terms of spreading the Covid-19 virus.

He stressed people’s support was extremely important in containing the virus and therefore, requested to cooperate with them and adhere to their instructions. 

Courtesy Adaderana

Quarantine curfew is imposed in several more police division in Colombo with immediate effect, stated the Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva.

Accordingly, Maligawatte, Keselwatte, Dam Street, Barber Street, and Foreshore Police Division will be under quarantine curfew from here on.

The decision will be in effect until further notice.

Nine other police areas in Colombo District, namely Mattakkuliya, Modara, Wellampitiya, Bloemendhal and Grandpass, Kotahena, Dematagoda, Maradana, Gothatuwa, and Mulleriyawaare also currently under quarantine curfew until further notice.

In the meantime, quarantine curfew came into force in Payagala, Beruwala, and Aluthgama police areas of Kalutara District with immediate effect last night (23) and will be effective until 5.00 am on Monday (October 26).

Persons living in curfew areas have been requested to restrict their movements and interactions.

The decision came after the recent surge in Covid-19 positive cases in the aforementioned and localities.

Courtesy Adaderana

Ninety-two more individuals have tested positive for the novel coronavirus COVID-19, Army Commander Lieutenant General Shavendra Silva said.

According to the Army Chief, all of them are close contacts of the coronavirus patients linked to Peliyagoda Fish Market.

Meanwhile, a total of 368 cases of COVID-19 positive cases have been identified within the day far.

Thus, the Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda cluster has registered a total of 4,050 positive cases.

Following the latest update, the total number of Covid-19 confirmed in Sri Lanka shot up to 7,521.

The Epidemiology Unit’s statistics revealed that 3,792 active cases are still under medical care at selected hospitals across the country.

Recoveries from the virus now stand at 3,714 after 70 persons infected with the virus were discharged from hospitals earlier in the day upon regaining health.

Sri Lanka also witnessed its 15th death this morning, as a 56-year-old from Kuliyapitiya fell victim to Covid-19.

Courtesy Adaderana

A team of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officers has recovered a T-56 rifle and a revolver, which allegedly belong to the notorious underworld figure ‘Podi Lassie’.

The firearms have been found from the house of the suspect’s grandmother in Telwatte, Ambalangoda, according to reports.

The CID officers had led ‘Podi Lassie’ to the location where the two firearms were recovered last evening (23).

‘Podi Lassie’ who was recently granted bail by the Galle Magistrate, continues to be held by the CID under detention orders.

‘Podi Lassie’ has been named as the second suspect in the case filed over the death threats made in public at the Boossa Prison, against the President, the Defence Secretary and certain high-ranking officers of the Prisons Department.

By Rohana R. Wasala

The Sinhalese in independent Sri Lanka have been nationalistic, but never narrowly communalistic; they have never illtreated non-Sinhala minorities on the basis of race or religion. Those who are wallowing in a sea of misinformation having been swept there by tides of hostile propaganda over the decades, may bristle at this, but the truth must be stated. The nationalism of the Sinhalese is not a construct of the last colonial era. Contrary to what Eurocentric theorists, their local clones, imperialist lackeys and their modern dupes believe, it is an inclusive nationalism. In their long history, the nationalism of the Sinhalese has been synonymous with patriotism or the love of their country, their island homeland. The JVP of 1971 and 1987-89 shed blood in the name of the country, not in the name of a race or a religion unlike respectively the defeated LTTE and the recent NTJ. To point this out is not being communalistic; it is only reacting to a false criticism. The racists and the extremists among the minorities raise false allegations of communalism against the majority community to justify their own communalism.

Today, even a section of the Sinhalese polity including some young members of the FB generation, seem to think that to be a nationalist is the same as being a racist. That misconception is largely because they are not well enough informed about their own true history and truly admirable, multifaceted heritage, a legacy that is enjoyed by all communities in common: the still functional parts of the ancient hydraulic system, archaeological remains that attract foreign tourists and earn foreign exchange for the public coffers,and many other treasures. But anti-national individuals and agencies still censor Anagarika Dharmapala, the pioneer national revivalist of the colonial era, as a hate figure for ideologically rekindling, around the beginning of the 20th century, the nationalist spirit of the patriotic Sinhalese that had been choked in the course of a number of popular uprisings by force of arms by colonial invaders following the 1815 British intrigue. All the Sinhalese leaders who caused the 1948, 1956, 1972, 2009, and 2019 restorative revolutionary watersheds to happen were inspired by Dharmapala and were opposed by the real racists and received little support from non-Buddhist religious extremists. 

The ‘divide and rule’ policy of the British imperialists was naturally to the greater disadvantage of the majority community than to the minorities, who in fact stood to gain from it. The British exploited the minorities to weaken the historical defenders of the land. It may be plausibly argued that they used them as tacit allies to restrain the Sinhalese from rebellion, in return for privileged treatment (although this was limited to an elite that politically mattered to them, while the majority of the dispossessed mixed masses consisting of common Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims shared the rigours of colonial exploitation without discrimination). 

Particularly, the racist leaders of the Tamil minority feared that a parliamentary system of government where the Sinhalese would hold power because of their numerical superiority would mean a loss of their privileged status (hence the notorious 50-50 seat allocation demand of G.G. Ponnambalam which was contemptuously rejected by the Soulbury Commissioners in 1946. All the overtures that Sinhalese leaders from D.S. Senanayake to Gotabaya Rajapaksa made to the few but powerful racists (among the minority politicians) who somehow manage to hoodwink their people and persuade them to vote for them have failed to convince them to cooperate wholeheartedly with the majority in making unitary Sri Lanka a strong sovereign state where they harbour equal stakes and enjoy equal rights and share equal responsibilities. 

The false allegation of Sinhala communalism finds a convenient platform in the demand for the constitutional emasculation of the institution of the executive presidency (if complete abolition is not possible). This is because it is usually a Sinhalese who stands a chance of getting elected as president by the pan-Sri Lanka electorate. These minority politicians (the extremist few, not all minority politicians) propagate the idea that all Sinhalese are communalists, and that every president will be biased against their people.  But this is a fallacy. Though, at present, there is no likelihood of a minority politician becoming president because the minority polities are still mostly under the sway of racists and religious extremists, it is not an impossibility. If the non-racist, non-extremist politicians that there are among them are allowed to emerge dominant, they certainly will find more favour with the average Sinhalese voters than a conceited Premadasa or a clueless Sirisena, and a correspondingly modest and knowledgeable Tamil or Muslim president will no longer be just a dream.  There are many examples from the past to illustrate the possibility of such an eventuality, but this is not the time for dwelling on the subject.

Unwarranted dilution of the powers of the executive presidency was what was achieved by the controversial 19A, which, effectively divided people’s sovereign power between the President, the Prime Minister and the Speaker. It was a three-headed monster, as a government minister recently said. As a result of it the sovereign people had to put up with a severely dysfunctional parliament that brought disaster to the country for an interminable four and a half years before it was finally dissolved by the President and a fresh Parliament elected.  The potential for the continuation of such a corrupt malfunctioning parliament is greater when the executive power of the President to dissolve it is curtailed or is completely taken away. That provides a situation open to exploitation by the Rishads and Hakeems of this world.

The Island editorial/October 20, 2020 made the following comment, which suggests the despicable way they are ready to cock a snook at the sovereignty of the people: 

‘Bathiudeen brought down the hurriedly formed Sirisena-Rajapaksa government, in 2018, by refusing to vote with it in Parliament. That administration crashed, unable to raise a simple majority in the House. This time around, Bathiudeen can give the present regime the kiss of death by voting for the 20A. If he and his four MPs vote for 20A, as expected, those who claim that he and the government have struck a secret deal will be vindicated. The only way the government can avert such a situation is to engineer the crossover of some other Opposition MPs so that it does not have to depend on Bathiudeen…..’  

Who is this Bathiudeen? He was one of the Muslims forcibly evacuated from the North as a result of Prabhakaran’s ethnic cleansing policy. When Bathiudeen came down to Colombo he was a penniless youth with nothing but the worn out clothes on his body, it is said. Today, he is a billionaire with palatial houses here and there, and thousands of acres of land in his possession, with some more lands given to his relatives. He was able to help himself to such great wealth and also indulge in philanthropy at the expense of the state  because he became a politician and managed to join the winning side continuously from the previous MR government to the end of Yahapalanaya, and battened on the suffering of the fellow members of his own displaced community. During the near decade in power, he was charged by environmental groups with the devastating deforestation of the Wilpattu forest reserve; he was  rumoured to be complicit in importing cocaine hidden among goods in CWE containers, illegally exploiting the ilmenite containing mineral sand deposits at Pulmudai for personal profits, abusing the CWE to propagate extremist Islamist ideology, and he was even accused of having connections with the Jihadists who carried out the Easter Sunday attacks on churches and hotels.  When the police finally started looking for him to arrest him on the charge of having abused state/public property by transporting by CTB buses some 10,000 voters from their new places of residence to their old (for casting their vote a second time it was alleged in the media) on the day of the presidential election in November last year. How is it that an extremely unscrupulous, originally insignificant penurious politician has been allowed to invest himself with such power as the Island editorial has described?

This is because the minority communalists who stick that label on the majority have been empowered by the existing faulty electoral system being abused, and the majority community effectively disenfranchised in the process. Having to strike a deal with political criminals or to ‘engineer the crossover of some other Opposition MPs’ as the Island editorial suggests in order to get 20A or any other nationally important piece of legislation through parliament, is a wretched proposition for any sovereign nation even to contemplate. But, isn’t there any prospect for the nation to reverse this unfortunate self inflicted anomaly? In my opinion, there is. It is to get rid of our own fear of adopting strategies that might run the risk of being attacked as racist, Sinhala Supremacist, discriminatory towards minorities, contrary to international standards, etc. We have to learn not to give a fig to such unfounded accusations. 

At present, the Sinhalese are scrupulously guiltless in this respect. Still they are treated as if they were the worst racists, human rights violaters, xenophobes, chauvinists in the world. Sometimes their own leaders criticise them for being jaatiwadin, or racists as Premadasa and Sirisena have already done: 

Former president Sirisena was heard, at the Easter Sunday Attacks inquiry recently, referring to racists among the Sinhalese. In a Twitter message, which was only in English and Tamil, but not in Sinhala, during the presidential election campaigning period, SJB leader Premadasa charged that Muslims were subjected to discrimination at the hands of the Sinhalese! He toured the North, presumably to show the northern Tamils that he was a champion of Tamil rights. He was given a heroic welcome in Jaffna and he garnered many Tamil votes, too. But it is not that they fell for stratagems; they knew that he was ready to betray his own people for a mess of (electoral) pottage. Could a person who doesn’t care about his own kind be concerned about other people? 

The alleged Sinhala racists are none other than the few monks and some young Sinhala activists who are merely reacting to proven cases of harassment, aggression, and subversion against them by some extremist elements from among the minorities. Considerable numbers of young Tamils and Muslims are also among their supporters. Had the successive governments taken them seriously, the slaughter of innocents on April 21 could have been avoided. They represent millions, but are they taken notice of? Are they given proper media coverage? Global media (international TV channels such as Al Jazeera, CNN, BBC, etc) broadcast distorted news about them. There’s no place for them on the You Tube, either. 

The true situation in the country is different from what is usually reported in these media. Why did the nationalists win very nearly two thirds of parliamentary seats, with the racists and religious extremists getting fewer than what they usually win? The result surprised even the nationalists. This shows that the Sinhalese electorate can decide the future of the country by themselves. But they naturally prefer to do so with the participation of the minorities. If the Sinhalese MPs in parliament forget their partisan divisions and remember the patriotism of their ancestors who shed their blood to save their motherland for all its inhabitants, they will voluntarily help the government to muster the two thirds majority required or even more for introducing a completely new constitution when the time comes for that.

Not less than the survival of the unitary state, the nation, the dominant Buddhist culture and the island territory is at stake.  The America-led West and India seem to have found a deus ex machina opportunity to further crank up pressure on economically doddering Sri Lanka in the fast expanding mysterious Brandix Covid-19 cluster and in a court judgement given in UK that is favourable to the LTTE rump still active there: It was reported in the media on Wednesday (October 21, 2020) that UK’s Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission has concluded that the Home Office decision to keep the LTTE  as a proscribed terrorist organisation was flawed and unlawful. So, the British parliament is likely to lift the ban on the organization in that country. Britain is one of the forty countries that proscribed the terror outfit. As far as Sri Lanka is concerned, this will make little difference to the status quo, because the UK has practically always allowed its members to behave as if there was no ban on it. 

So, all MPs in parliament, please forget your party, ethnic, religious and interpersonal differences in the name of our motherland. At the time of writing, the ad hoc 20A is to be put to the vote. It will be passed with necessary amendments. It is good if this was carried out without the government having to strike secret deals with communalists or to engineer crossovers from the Opposition (which would be a slap in the face of the voting public). The more momentous responsibility that you are going to fulfill is  to create a sound new constitution for our country that will save our nation from squabbling geopolitical powers who are promoting their own separate national interests at our expense, leaving us in perpetual political instability and endless economic misery. You Hon. MPs, especially the fresh thinking young ones, owe our resplendent island homeland  no less.

(PS: The 20A was passed in parliament with 156 voting for it and only 65 against. The votes cast in favour  exceeds the required two thirds majority by 6 votes. It is obvious that the government did not have to make undue special overtures towards Muslim MPs. There were only 6 Muslim votes but they were not critical, they were dispensable. It is clear that the Muslim MPs thrust themselves on the government side without being asked. Probably, they did this on the prior instructions of Hakeem (and Rishad as well). I think so because, about two weeks ago, Hakeem  told media men that he wouldn’t vote for 20A but that the other members of his party would probably do so. The government had better be careful: Beware of Greeks bearing gifts. The government, it seems, was short of only 2 votes for acquiring the required number of votes, which was 150. Those two votes came from Tamil MP Aravind Kumar and SJB’s Diana Gamage. The latter violated her leader’s injunction, for which she must be praised.

The drafting of a completely new constitution commenced two or three weeks before. This will get into top gear now. The drafting committee is headed by the renowned PC Romesh de Silva, and includes other legal luminaries such as Manohara de Silva and experts in related fields such as geologist and geopolitical analyst and commentator Prof. Gerald H. Peiris. They can be expected to produce a document that will be as much acceptable to the minorities as it is to the majority.)   

By Raj Gonsalkorale

Nought from the Greeks towards me hath sped well.
So now I find that ancient proverb true,
Foes’ gifts are no gifts: profit bring they none – Sophocles (496 – 406 BC),

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth is a proverb about not questioning the value of a gift. The proverb refers to the practice of evaluating the age of a horse by looking at its teeth. A certain exception to this rule would be the MCC agreement which reportedly is very high in the agenda of US Secretary of State Mark Pompeo’s visit to Sri Lanka next week.

In a wide ranging article published in the Lankaweb (MCC LIES: Sri Lanka is not getting $480m signing MCC Posted on October 18th, 2020), Shenali Waduge has elaborated on this agreement and what it means to Sri Lanka in terms of the proposed gift. As she has rightly said, 327 million Americans are giving Sri Lanka USD 1.50 each (USD 480 M over 5 years) or US 30 cents per year. There is also a saying that beggars should not be choosers. However, despite the impact of COVID, Sri Lankans are not beggars, therefore they must choose what is in their best interests. One million Sri Lankans working overseas remitted USD 7 Billion per year until COVID hit Sri Lanka and the rest of the world.

As Shenali Waduge explains, the MCC funds will be released in tranches over 5 years if Sri Lanka meets numerous pre requisite conditions. It is these conditions and what it means to Sri Lanka were they to be met, that should occupy the minds of those who advocate the signing of this agreement. These are what is in the gift horse’s mouth and which looks like stench emanating conditions. Despite the unpleasantness, Sri Lankans must look at these conditions remembering the old adage that there is nothing called a free lunch. It would be foolish to imagine that Sri Lanka is being given this gift for the sake of love and affinity. One should also consider the proverb not to trust Greeks bearing gifts.

As mentioned in the Phrase Finder (https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/beware-of-greeks-bearing-gifts.html), this proverb has its genesis an allusion to the story of the wooden horse of Troy, used by the Greeks to trick their way into the city. It is recorded in Virgil’s Aeneid, Book 2, 19 BC: “Do not trust the horse, Trojans. Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts.”

Although no suggestion is made that the USA is an enemy of Sri Lanka, the section of the phrase this proverb has its genesis an allusion to the story of the wooden horse of Troy, used by the Greeks to trick their way into the city” has relevance, if one sits back and considers what is in this agreement for the US and whether it is indeed the horse of Troy being used to gain entry into Sri Lanka for its own strategic reasons.

The US has two key strategic reasons to be interested in an entry into Sri Lanka. Firstly, the emergence of China as its competitor for world’ super power status and its influence in Sri Lanka. China already has a foothold with its investment in Hambantota, a Port, an airport with a run way longer than in Katunayake, and vast acreage of land around the Hambantota port given on a 99-year lease by the Sirisena/Wickremasinghe government. Although there is no Chinese Military presence in Sri Lanka, it would be foolhardy to imagine that will not be a reality should a need arise for China for it to bring its Military in if its interests in the region are threatened. Secondly, the future of the US bases in Diego Garcia.

In an article titled Is the United States about to lose control of its secretive Diego Garcia military base? Jenni Marsh of  CNN (March 11, 2019) says Britain has now been instructed to properly finish the process of decolonization, and return the Chagos Islands, located half way between Africa and Indonesia, to Mauritius. The ruling, though non-binding, potentially creates a huge problem for the United States. Today, Diego Garcia is one of America’s most important — and secretive — overseas assets. Home to over 1,000 US troops and staff, it has been used by the US Navy, the US Air Force and even NASA — the island’s enormous runway was a designated emergency landing site for the space shuttle. Diego Garcia has helped to launch two invasions of Iraq, served as a vital landing spot for bombers that fly missions across Asia, including over the South China Sea, and has been linked to US rendition efforts”

It is interesting to note the graphic of US bases throughout the world, and its base in Diego Garcia (Chagos Islands) and its key strategic position in the Indian ocean, and its proximity to Sri Lanka. One should wonder whether the twin reasons for US interest in Sri Lanka are in fact the driving, motivating force for it to gain that entry through the MCC Agreement.

THE LOWY INSTITUTE (https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/decolonise-diego-garcia-why-america-should-not-fear-mauritius) also mentions The United States military base on Diego Garcia has a problem: it is housed inside an unlawful jurisdiction, the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). According to the African Union, UN General Assembly and a recent advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, BIOT is a colonial holdover that violates the territorial integrity of Mauritius. Britain refuses to dismantle BIOT out of deference to its ally, the US. This is a mistake. Full decolonisation is in the interest of all sides. America’s support for British sovereignty over Diego Garcia is based on the assumption that London is a preferable landlord” to Port Louis. If this was ever true in the past, it is not true today. British control over Diego Garcia and the rest of the Chagos Archipelago is illegal, unpopular, unnecessary, and at odds with the idea of a rules-based” order in the Indo-Pacific. By contrast, Mauritius holds the keys to a long-term agreement over Diego Garcia that would be consistent with international law and beneficial to America’s broader strategic objectives in the region”.

While the Lowy Institute argues that the future of the base need not be a problem for the US should they negotiate with a willing Mauritius, there is an element of uncertainty over the future of this very vital base that serves US strategic objectives. In this context, it should not be unreasonable to assume that there could be a long term US interest in Sri Lanka on account of any developments in Diego Garcia that are detrimental to US interests.

This writer has argued in previous articles published in the Daily FT that the MCC Agreement taken in conjunction with two other agreements with the USA, although not directly linked to the MCC Agreement, ACSA (already signed) and SOFA (yet to be signed), and the Land Amendment Act (not passed by Parliament as yet as far as the writer knows) are not in the best interests of Sri Lanka. See Millennium Challenge Grant: USA and the trust deficit (http://www.ft.lk/opinion/Millennium-Challenge-Grant-USA-and-the-trust-deficit/14-685021), SOFA not so good; who or what will drive the MCC Sri Lanka Compact? (http://www.ft.lk/columns/SOFA-not-so-good–who-or-what–will-drive-the-MCC-Sri-Lanka-Compact/4-681368), Amended Land (Restrictions on Alienation) Act No. 38 of 2014: Challenge for Gotabaya and Sajith (http://www.ft.lk/columns/Amended-Land-Restrictions-on-Alienation-Act-No-38-of-2014-Challenge-for-Gotabaya-and-Sajith/4-687602), MCC a spider’s web or an act of unconditional generosity? (http://www.ft.lk/columns/MCC-a-spider-s-web-or-an-act-of-unconditional-generosity/4-692103)

It is possible that the US Secretary of State is very keen to secure an agreement on SOFA as well during his visit, besides the MCC Agreement. If he manages to do so, the triumvirate of agreements that could take Sri Lanka well into the strategic hold of the US would be complete. MCC funded road developments reportedly establishing road works between a land corridor from the Western province and the Eastern province, Land banks, selling unlimited parcels of land to non Sri Lankans once land legislation is changed, which Sri Lankan politicians are quite capable of doing, entry of US military personnel into Sri Lanka (under SOFA), are all within the realm of certainty, not just possibility.

It can be argued that Sri Lanka’s engagements with China have also been short sighted and this has placed the country in jeopardy from super power rivalry. Sri Lanka’s strategic relationship with India too could have been better as it could have been used to act as the circuit breaker between the US and China tensions over Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka needs all three countries, India, the US and China to be her friends and it has to demonstrate to all three that they are not favouring one over another. It needs to be non-aligned as far as these three countries are concerned. The MCC Agreement, the SOFA agreement should not be signed as they are very clearly entry Visa’s for the US military. However, in return, Sri Lanka should assuage concerns that the US and India have about possible Chinese intentions in Sri Lanka. In this regard, a Constitutional provision that no country would be permitted to operate any Military bases in Sri Lanka, no country would be permitted to use Sri Lankan Ports, Airports and any land or sea territory for Military purposes of another country, could be considered. Once such a Constitutional provision is enacted by Parliament, Sri Lanka could sign an agreement with China consistent with the constitutional provision.

From a longer term perspective, Sri Lanka should seriously consider a tri nation foreign policy compact between China, India and Sri Lanka, with India looking after US interests, to manage strategic relationships between the three countries and the US. The writer proposed such a compact in an article titled Sino, Indo, Lanka tri-nation centric foreign policy to end interference by other nations” (http://www.ft.lk/Opinion-and-Issues/Sino-Indo-Lanka-tri-nation-centric-foreign-policy-to-end-interference-by-other-nations/14-668484). It is worthwhile for Sri Lanka to consider such a compact as it could assuage concerns between the super power rivals, US and China, and India about foreign policy and economic policy decisions taken by Sri Lanka that could have an impact on the strategic interests of these countries.

(courtesy Daily FT)

Maithripala Sirisena was not born with a silver spoon. He was no presidential material but he controversially became President with a thumbs up by 62lakh voters in January 2015 aided even by foreign governments & a coterie of civil society organizations & NGOs. Today, these entities regret that decision. His impassioned address to the Nation in October 2018, drew our attention to the shabby treatment he was subject to by the Colombo 7 UNP gang. With all of these odds against him, he still managed to prevent not only the signing of MCC inspite of the preconditions associated with it being rolled out oblivious to his understanding.  More importantly, he prevented the privatization of State land through the Land Special Provisions Bill. A government is only custodian of the land and therefore, President Sirisena did right by preventing the privatization. This single deed by Maithripala Sirisena which has won the appreciation of the Nation, is what President Gotabaya will be measured on as well as US Secretary of State arrives to pressure Sri Lanka to  If President Sirisena had the ability to withstand the pressures to sign MCC and privatize State land, there is little doubt that President Gotabaya would reject MCC and ensure Sri Lanka’s lands, assets & resources remain with the State and to the People of Sri Lanka.

President Sirisena’s emotional address to the nation on 28 October 2018 explained why he was prompted to remove PM Ranil Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister. https://fb.watch/1ix4u57NOv/

The Address prompted all to question how land statutes were being amended & passed divesting land to foreigners ignoring the President’s seal of approval. The President’s speech drew our attention to the new Land Ordinance Special Act allowing the sale of crown land to private parties & valid for only 7 years. What kind of law was this when sovereignty of land is vested in the People? President also mentions the National Economic Council. The NEC too made its reservations on the MCC and concluded that it was detrimental to the sovereignty of the Nation and should not be signed. President Sirisena mentioned the Land Ordinance Special Act & the Land Bank that had been presented to Parliament in mid-October 2018, which President Sirisena had objected to & did not allow to pass cabinet. If this Act had been passed 84% of crown lands would have been privatized & would eventually have fallen into foreign hands. MCC Agreement clearly gives the history to how it was introduced in 2015 and all of its demands are mentioned by the President.

What the former PM felt about Sri Lanka’s agri-lands is clearly conveyed by him in 2003 when he declared he would bring legislation to remove land given for agriculture. https://www.facebook.com/WeR4SL1/videos/478235802577562/UzpfSTU4MjQzNjE3MDoxMDE1Njc1Nzg5Mzg4MTE3MQ/

With covid-we now know the value of agriculture and growing our own food for food security!

An Indian paper carried news that the former PM had declared that English laws would apply to Colombo Port City and that a British team was arriving to work out modalities. It was also rumoured that the same British law was to apply across the MCC ‘economic corridor’ along the 7 targeted districts that MCC Land Project was to fund. What it meant was that the stretch of land under MCC Land Project would be divided between foreign corporates and operate under British law.

The People do not vote to bring a government to power, for that government to vest sovereign land into the hands of foreigners.

State Land as per Supreme Court Land Ownership Bill Special Determination No. 26A-36/2003 declares that State Land is held by the State in TRUST for the People.

State Land is vested in the Central Government & can only be ALIENATED under the SEAL of the President.

A private party cannot make a prescriptive claim on State Land (Section 15, Prescription Ordinance)

State Land is administered by the Land Development Ordinance which grants permits to cultivate & develop land & issued with certain conditions primary of which is that they cannot be leased or mortgaged.

No development can result in Sri Lanka losing its ownership of land & having that passed on to foreign hands!

What is the point in saying Sri Lanka’s sovereignty is inalienable & with the People when a Govt elected for a term thinks STATE LAND is their personal property to sell claiming that to be a FOREIGN INVESTMENT – what eventually happens is we loose our land, the foreigners walk away with the profits & turn our citizens into cheap labourers & the govt MPs pockets the commissions!

At least 4 times President Sirisena had prevented the Land Privatization Bill and that is indeed commendable. Whatever his faults, Sri Lanka must be grateful to this single act that prevented signing of the MCC.

We now have a popular president with a people’s mandate and now all the more powerful with the passing of the 20^thamendment.

The People are looking up with more hope then they had before and with full faith that President Gotabaya Rajapakse will deliver.

President Gotabaya Rajapakse’s election manifesto gives a clear outline of that way forward. https://gota.lk/sri-lanka-podujana-peramuna-manifesto-english.pdf

Three main features of that manifesto is regarding Foreign Policy, Protection of National Assets & of course National Security.

The treacheries ended with the fall of yahapalana governance. The winning President who ordered the defeat of LTTE in May 2009, is today the Prime Minister, the defense secretary is today the President the former President is in Parliament but the former Prime Minister failed to even win a seat to re-enter Parliament. The fall of the UNP affords plenty of lessons. The fall of yahapalana also affords plenty of lessons.

That the former President Sirisena weathered humiliations for not being born with a silver spoon, did not stop him from preventing the privatization of Sri Lanka’s land and signing of MCC. We must applaud that. President Gotabaya Rajapakse may not have been born with the silver spoon from Colombo 7 but he belongs to a proud & illustrious family from South Sri Lanka. Mahinda Rajapakse, our PM would want to remain regarded with the highest esteem as being the modern defender of the Nation and Gotabaya Rajapakse no doubt will match the patriotism with professionalism and ensure not an inch of Sri Lanka’s soil is plundered or bartered.

The Nation and its Citizens now regard Gotabaya Rajapakse as the protector of the Nation & President Gotabaya Rajapakse must withstand all international pressures as the Nation will watch him deliver & he shall deliver.

Shenali D Waduge

There are some ground realities all of us need to come to terms with. While in Sri Lanka, only the TNA chants ‘Eelam’ & Pro-LTTE slogans, that too closer to some election or event, to give themselves some cheap publicity, all of the demands for Eelam are coming from Tamils living on foreign shores. Not only are these Tamils holding foreign passports but are working overseas, educating their children overseas, have bought property overseas and are either foreign citizens or standing in line to becoming one. So why would they take such pains to declare Eelam in Sri Lanka, when it would be easier to declare it in UK? Numerically too, the calls for Eelam are coming from more Tamils living overseas than a handful of isolated chants from Sri Lanka. Moreover, while it looks an elusive dream to declare Eelam in Sri Lanka, with the patronage and support given by UK MPs towards the Eelam cause, Her Majesty must seriously consider declaring Eelam at least in Tooting or Harrow.

If anyone is in doubt as to where & by whom the most calls for Eelam come from, all they need to do is to look at the number of LTTE diaspora entities operating from UK, the number of initiatives they run on a daily basis, the events they hold daily, the fund raising they manage, the emails, social media platforms they operate, the documentaries, panel discussions and even talk shows they sponsor – as against the feeble voices of the TNA. Isn’t it hilarious to see Sivajilingam with less than 20 people commemorating Prabakaran & the ‘dead’ when the hyped up dead figure was 40,000 while others claimed 200,000 ‘dead’. Surely, they could have rounded up these families to shed a few tears (If they were actually ‘dead’). LTTE Diaspora even run offices that train people to claim asylum – this includes paying to be tortured (burnt with cigarette butt ends), trained to cry & how to act in front of the asylum officers. This training is said to cost some 5000 sterling pounds.

Look at the number of British MPs on board the Eelam cause. In all probability they would be the first to come forward to hoist the LTTE flag in Harrow or Tooting. They seem to attend more LTTE events than they do British functions. None of these British MPs are too bothered about the LTTE diaspora crimes that swindle money from Britishers credit card scams, welfare and charity cheating, money laundering and human smuggling. When the British Parliament is even permitted to be hired for LTTE diaspora events, the Queen would no doubt be only pleased to assist in helping declare Eelam. With Brexit, and Britain getting isolated, the British MPs must be thinking the booty of LTTE kitty may come in handy.

Britain may be out of the EU, but Britain is not alone, LTTE & Eelam can help generate the income that the Brexit has denied.

Thankfully, Sri Lanka has only to put up with the theatrics & melodrama acts of the TNA from season to season. Since the end of LTTE defeat in May 2009, Sri Lanka has not experienced a single act of terror by LTTE. However, this cannot be said of the countries that provide safe haven for LTTE remnants.

France has a ‘Little Jaffna’ in Paris itself. It is the epicenter of violence with at least 10 types of violent gangs operating with swords & knives. Many killings have also taken place. In 2016, the Tamil Coordinating Committee head was shot dead, the previous TCC head was also shot dead. In 2009, Paris police had to arrest some 200 Tamil protestors for their unruly behavior. There is no end to the raids by French police across Paris. Who would imagine a Tamil getting his hand chopped off outside a Ganesh Temple in Paris! While chopping hands off the LTTE Eelam gangs are also involved in racketeering, burglaries, violent assaults and drug trafficking.

Across the Channel, in July we heard of a gruesome murder of a 5 year old stabbed to death by her Tamil mother in Mitcham, two more kids were murdered in April the same year. In Tooting the Tooting boys killed another in 2015. A Tamil man was stabbed through the heart in 2011 at a child’s birthday party. The UK police recorded 4 deaths & 200 incidents between 2000 & 2002! Shocking statistics. In 2007, the UK police declared credit card frauds of Tamil gangs amounted to 70million sterling pounds!

To top it off the UK Court found the British Tamil Forum guilty of sexual abuse, discrimination & victimization demanding compensation be paid to the victim. Without paying 70,000 sterling pounds, the BTF blames the UK High Court, accuses the victim of ‘tarnishing’ BTF image and declares itself bankrupt & quickly opens BTF Forum UK Limited. This looks a repeat performance of how TRO transferred monies to White Pigeon before TRO was banned by UK. So, it looks as if the LTTE Diaspora are not only making a mockery of UK laws but manipulating UK MPs to their advantage.

It is therefore only a matter of time that Eelam will get declared in Tooting or Harrow. We can only wish the LTTE Diaspora, the best of luck to do so. Let us see which LTTE Diaspora group can beat each other to declare Eelam –

Eelam in Canada

Eelam in USA

Eelam in France

Eelam in Tamil Nadu

Eelam in UK

Which LTTE Diaspora will declare Eelam first? Let the competition begin – & end soon!

Shenali D Waduge

By M D P DISSANAYAKE

First year of President Gotabaya Rajapakse is almost coming to an end. Firstly he had to work without a parliament, then Covid 19 followed by 19A,

The poor performers of the government in the first year had a field day during the period without parliament.  Then these inefficient Ministers used Covid 19 as an excuse for not performing. The President need  a team of committed, loyal men and women to whom he can delegate tasks confidently.

But,  we have seen the emergence of toothless tigers in the cabinet attempting to become lions during the period of 20 amendment.  The attitudes of Wimal Weerawanga, Udaya Gammanpila, Vidura Wickremanayake, Vasudeva Nanayakkara  were despicable, as they made the firing shots to awaken TNA, Tamil diaspora, NGOs, anti-government social media,  Muruththethuwe Ananda Thero, Elle Gunawansa Thero, Medagoda Sumanatissa Thero ( much low key player), Bengamuwe Nalaka Thero and remanants of UNP/SJB. .   Especially  Wimal Weerawansa’s actions  were unacceptable. His actions against the 20A had nothing to do with the promises made to the public during the elections.  But his actions were mainly due to fact that he was annoyed with Basil Rajapakse for two main reasons viz.  introduction of Dr Sarath Weerasekera  to Colombo District, which eroded his ambition to score the highest number of preferential votes.  Secondly Wimal was extremely annoyed when SLPP ( BASIL) fielded 4 pohottuwa candidates to the Kaduwela District, the main vote bank of Wimal. If Wimal decided either to abstain or vote against the 20A, his party position would have been similar to that of the Rauf Hakeem. The government’s readiness with a back-up has  now been demonstrated.

However, Mahinda Rajapakse was able to persuade the President to appoint Wimal as the Minister of Industries, a position technically should be given to a qualified, experienced, knowledgeable person with commercial negotiation skills.  

In less than 3 months from the general election, Wimal has tarnished his political standing.   Undoubtedly the President has lost faith in him.    The attitude displayed by Minister Wimal was a blessing in disguise, as hierarchy has been able to identify the true nature and colour of this former JVP  politician. 

The President has already made a public announcement that  the biggest problem of the country is that no one  is working”.  This includes his Cabinet Ministers as well. The lack of commitment to the given tasks, but eagerness to get involved on issues outside your own portfolio by some Cabinet Ministers, unfortunately compels  the President to get involved to monitor  the WORK IN PROGRESS, as the Ministers are hibernating.

Sajith Premadasa who has worked extremely hard single= handedly, brought in Diana Gamage to politics, made her the Assistant Secretary of his new Party, elevated her to the rank of a  National List MP by-passing several key personnel and  in less than 3 months she  betrayed the Party Leader!  

It is always better to identify the loyalists as against the snakes under the grass. 

The value of a Dual Citizenship need to be demonstrated to the country, by recruiting Mr Basil Rajapakse to the Cabinet of Ministers, immediately. This Clause must remain in the new constitution going forward. 

There are compelling reasons to bring on Basil Rajapakse as a Minister Without Portfolio, as quickly as possible, to straighten out lacklustre, non-performing  passengers in the Ministry.  

KAMALIKA PIERIS

Part 2 of this series is on international relations. The series starts with India. Despite its impressive size, India is a very young sovereign state, dating only from 1947. Before foreign rule, India consisted of a number of separate kingdoms. These vanished under Muslim and British rule.

The responsibility of creating the new  Republic of India  in 1947,  from an inherited  jumble of  princely states and British ruled states, was given to Nehru, who solved the problem by creating a set of linguistic states.  In the process all sorts of adjacent areas were dragged in against their wishes, to form contiguous states.  

Andhra Pradesh was the first to be created. It was created out of   former Madras province, Hyderabad, and Mysore, so that Telegu speakers would constitute its majority. Karnataka was created by merging the Kannada speaking areas of southern Deccan. Madhya Pradesh was created out of linguistically heterogeneous area of the former Centre Province and Madhya Bharat. Gujerat, Maharashtra,  Bombay became one state.

These artificially, hastily drawn states were not going to last and India knew this. The Indian constitution therefore permitted the formation of new states, provided that the division was helpful to India. Parliament can   create, abolish, truncate, or rename   states.  It can alter boundaries, increase or decrease the size of states. 

  India has eagerly accepted this invitation to fragment. The original boundaries are disappearing, said analysts. Gujarat broke away from Marathi speaking Maharashtra.    Jharkhand, Chattisgarh and   Uttaranchal were carved out of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Telengana became India’s 29 state in 2014. Telengana was enthusiastically received in India

More new states have been asked for. Maharashtra said they want a new state of Vidharba.  Uttar Pradesh wanted to divide into Harit Pradesh, Sundelkhand, and Provanchal.  In Assam the Bodo people want Bodoland, and Karbi want their own state. West Bengal wants Gorkhaland for Nepali speaking Gorkha community, and Cooch Behar for the locals. In Rajasthan they want a Maru state.  All these states complained that the existing states had confined development to the centre. India’s northeast is a very combustible region. Some 250 ethnic groups are arrayed against one another.

State governments are now very powerful . The states are unruly and difficult to control. Power is flowing away to state capitals where some s strong men and women are ruling, said analysts.  Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati cancelled a land grant made by the central government, banned a meeting Sonia Gandhi was attending and diverted her motorcade in 2010.

The states are now represented in regional parties, and the central government consists of coalitions of these parties, so states cannot be ignored at central level either. A new dimension has come with coalition governments at the centre, said analysts. State parties are now able to interfere in centre policies and influence centre-state relations. .

The Indian central government has been in headlong retreat for the past three decades, said Chandraprema. The powers of the Central government were challenged in Supreme Court in West Bengal vs. Union (1962) Rajasthan vs. Union (1977).

In the West Bengal case, the central government had wanted to take over some coal bearing state land. West Bengal said that centre could not take over land vested  or owned by the state. In the Rajasthan case, Central government had asked six states, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Orissa to dissolve its assemblies and hold fresh elections. The states     said this request was illegal.

The Indian Constitution gives the President the power to take over a state when necessary. By 1998, President’s rule had been declared 106 times in the states.   But President’s rule is now questioned.

The M.M.Punchhi commission of 2010 supported  this approach. The commission was willing to allow the states to decide on who would be their governor. It was prepared to restrict the discretionary powers of the Governors of the states in appointing and dismissing chief minister and informing the central government that a state of emergency has arisen. The commission also recommended that when a situation of public disorder justified central government intervention in a state that the state be asked before intervening. They also  recommended that the imposition of presidents rule on a state should be subject to judicial review.

Constitution of India recognizes only one common citizenship for the entire Indian people, but the Indian states are not interested in creating a unified India.  They  emphasis language .There is linguistic chauvinism and intolerance. State jobs are exclusively for the majority language group.  India had the world’s biggest ever electricity power outage In July 2012, where three regional grids, collapsed entirely. The reason was that every state draws far more than their specific quotas from the power grid.

The states oppose each other. There are disputes over territory and water. Karnataka and Maharashtra are fighting over Belgaum, they both want it. It is a Marathi speaking district which had been given to Kannada speaking Karnataka in 1955.  Maharashtra has gone to courts. New Delhi is on the side of Karnataka, because otherwise it will get involved in reopening boundary cases. Commission appointed to study the matter stated that Belgaum belongs to Maharashtra but still the two states are fighting over it.

There are fights over water management between the states. Punjab and Haryana fought over Sutlej water, Kerala and Tamilnadu   over Mullaperiyar dam. Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh are now fighting over Bhabli dam. Delhi and Uttar Pradesh had a running feud on a host of things including bus routes. Jammu and Kashmir want to leave Mother India and join Pakistan.

In 2006 Kerala and Tamilnadu were clashing over Mullaperiyar dam.  The public also joined it and burnt Kerala buses, and blocked the road between Tamil nadu and Kerala. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh deployed at Tamil nadu’s request, the Central Reserve Police Force to protect the dam which irrigated the states four districts.

India has two national languages, Hindi and English. No one knows English and Hindi is spoken only by about 42% of the population. There are also 22 state languages, which operate only in their states. These include Tamil, Malayalam, Telegu, Kannada, Marathi, Gujerati, Rajastani, Urdu, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Hindi, Bihari, Oriya (Orissa) Bengali, Assamese. Primary education is in these languages. In the 2014 general election, the media reported that MPs took their oaths in Hindi, English, Kannada, Assamese, Oriya and Sanskrit.

There is also the Hindu Muslim clash, which is well known. Hindus and Moslems have fought over the Babri mosque at Ayodhya.  In Gujarat, Muslim mob had in 2002 burned a trainload of Hindu activists at a railway station. Then in 2014 also in Gujerat, Hindus had locked 23 Muslims who had fled into a house and then set it on fire.

India presently  has 28 states and 22 languages. Kuldip Nayar notes that that India has many fissiparous tendencies. The states are solidifying into separate entities and threatening to become permanent compartments. Consensus is becoming difficult. Even basic issues cannot get approval in Parliament.

 India will eventually ‘Balkanize’ into separate sovereign states, despite the anti-secession clause in the Indian constitution.  It will be a messy break up. Landlocked states will try to get access to the sea.   States will fight over boundaries and water.  Experts now warn of water wars due to scarcity of water and have identified India as one country where this will take place.

The international community knows that India will eventually break up. That is why India is never described as an emerging political power, only an economic power. Once it balkanizes it will not be an economic power either.  ‘TIME’ says China views India with disdain. China thinks India can be easily dissolved into its composite, regional parts.  ( continued)

මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජයේ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය

ලෝක සාමය හා ආරක්ෂාව තහවුරු කරන ප්‍රමුඛතම සංවිධානය ලෙස ජාතීන් අතර මිත්‍ර සබඳතා වර්ධනය කරමින් ජාත්‍යන්තර සහයෝගීතාවය සාක්ෂාත් කරන එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ 75 වැනි සංවත්සරයට සුබ පැතුම් එක්කරනුයේ ඉමහත් සතුටිනි.

දෙවැනි ලෝක සංග්‍රාමය අවසානයේ ලෝක සාමය සහ ආරක්ෂාවේ අවශ්‍යතාවය  පිළිඹිබු කරමින් යෝජනාවන එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ප්‍රඥප්තිය නිල වශයෙන් බලාත්මක වූයේ 1945 ඔක්තෝබර් 24 දාය.

එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය තරම් නීත්‍යානුකූලභාවය, බලය කැදවීම සහ ප්‍රමිතිගත බලපෑමක් සහිත වෙනත් ගෝලීය සංවිධානයක් ලොව නොමැතිතරම්ය. මෙම සංවිධානය ආරම්භ වී වසර දහයක් ගතවනවිට 1955 දෙසැම්බර් 14 වැනිදා ශ්‍රි ලංකාවට නිල වශයෙන් එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයේ සමාජිකත්වය හිමිවිය.

මෙසේ නිල සමාජිකත්වය හිමිවනවිටත් 1948 වසරේ පටන්ම එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය ශ්‍රි ලංකාව සමග අනොන්‍ය සබඳතා ආරම්භ කර තිබිණි. එක්සත් ජාතින්ගේ ආහාර හා කෘෂිකර්ම සංවිධානය, යුනෙස්කෝ සංවිධානය හා ලෝක සෞඛ්‍ය සංවිධානය ඒ වනවිටත් ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ කාර්යාල පිහිටුවමින් රටට අවශ්‍ය සාධනීය මැදිහත්වීම් කර තිබිණි.

රටවල් 193ක්  සමාජිකත්වය දරණ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයෙන් එදා මෙදා තුර ශ්‍රි ලංකාවට ලැබුණු දායකත්වය අති විශාලය. ශ්‍රි ලංකාවේ සෞඛ්‍ය මට්ටම දියුණුකර ගැනීම, ආර්ථික, සමාජයීය දියුණුව, මානව අයිතිවාසිකම් ආරක්ෂා කිරීම ඒ අතරින් ප්‍රධාන වේ.

කොවිඩ්-19 වසංගත තත්ත්වය තුළ මුළු ලෝකයටම වඩාත් ප්‍රබලව සිහිපත් කර ඇත්තේ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය වැනි සංවිධානයක තිබෙන වැදගත්කමයි. මෙවැනි සංවිධානගතවීමක් නොමැති වුවා නම් අද ලෝකයටම නිවැරදි මාර්ගෝපදේශයන් නොලැබී යන්නට ඉඩ තිබිණි. ඒ අනුව ලෝකය සමග  සහයෝගයෙන් කටයුතු කරමින් අනාගත වසංගත තත්ත්වයන්ට හා ගෝලීය අභියෝගයන්ට මුහුණදීමට අද වැනි දිනක අප අදිටන් කර ගත යුතුය.

විශේෂයෙන් සුනාමි ව්‍යවසනයෙන් පසුවත්, දශක තුනක යුද්ධයෙන් පසු රට ගොඩනැගීමේ කාර්යටත් එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයෙන් ලැබුණු සහයෝගය මේ මොහොතේ මම කෘතවේදීව සිහිපත් කරමි.  එමෙන්ම ලෝක සාමය වෙනුවෙන් එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය කරන කැපකිරීම උදෙසා සාම සාධක හමුදා භට පිරිස් යොමුකරමින් ශ්‍රි ලංකාව සාමාජික රටක් ලෙස හැකි උපරිම දායකත්වය ලබා දී තිබේ.

එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය 2015 වසරේ සම්මත කරගත් ගෝලීය තිරසර සංවර්ධන ඉලක්ක 17ක් වෙත පිය නැගීමට මුළු ලෝකයම මේ වනවිට ක්‍රියාත්මක වෙමින් සිටී.

පිරිසිදු ජලය හා සනීපාරක්ෂක පහසුකම් සැපයීම, ආර්ථික දියුණුව හා සුරක්ෂිත වැඩ පරිසරයක් ඇති කිරීම, කර්මාන්ත, යටිතල පහසුකම් හා නවෝත්පාදනය දියුණු කිරීම, තිරසර නගර සහ ජනාවාස ඇති කිරීම, වගකීම් සහිත පරිභෝජනය හා නිෂ්පාදනය, දේශගුණ විපර්යාසවලට ක්‍රියාමාර්ග ගැනීම, සාගර සම්පත් හා ජලජ ජීවීන් සුරක්ෂිත කිරීම, ජෛව විවිධත්වය හා ජෛව පද්ධති සුරැකීම, සාමය ඇති කිරීම හා යුක්තිය හා සාධාරණය ඇති කරන යාන්ත්‍රණයන් ශක්තිමත් කිරීම, දරිද්‍රතාව තුරන් කිරීම, ගුණාත්මක අධ්‍යාපනය, ස්ත්‍රී පුරුෂ සමානාත්මතාව සහ යහපත් සෞඛ්‍ය හා සුබසාධනය ඒ අතර ප්‍රධාන වේ. ශ්‍රි ලංකාවද 2030 වසර වන විට මෙම තිරසර ඉලක්ක වෙත ළගාවීමේ අපේක්ෂාවෙන් පසුවෙයි.

ඒ සඳහා වන සියලු දුෂ්කරතා මගහැරීමට එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය මේ දක්වා ශ්‍රි ලංකාවට දක්වන අනුග්‍රහයන් ඉදිරියටත් ලැබෙනු ඇතැයි මම විශ්වාස කරමි.

මහින්ද රාජපක්‍ෂ

ශ්‍රී ලංකා ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික සමාජවාදී ජනරජයේ  

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය

Prime Minister’s Media Unit

Oct. 23, 2020

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, participating in the celebration to mark the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, reiterated Sri Lanka’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

We are firm in our commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and create a greener and more sustainable environment for the future,” Prime Minister Rajapaksa said. I call upon my fellow world leaders to work collectively in restoring compassion back to the eco-system in our respective countries.”

Due to the prevailing pandemic, the event took place virtually under the theme ‘Shaping Our Future Together.” In his remarks, the Prime Minister thanked the United Nations for providing support to Sri Lanka in a wide range of sectors and highlighted the importance of member states supporting the United Nations in becoming a more agile and accountable institution.”

Complete Remarks by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa for the Virtual Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations

Thank you, Your Excellency and the United Nations, for inviting me to participate in the celebrations for the 75th anniversary of the U.N. It is indeed an historic occasion, especially given the long-standing partnership Sri Lanka has had with the U.N. for 65 years.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented us from joining you at your office for this celebration. However, I’m glad technology has brought us together virtually.

I want to start by thanking the United Nations for its support to Sri Lanka in fighting the Coronavirus outbreak. As the world takes on the challenges of this unprecedented global health crisis, it is more important than ever to work collectively on our shared challenges to overcome this pandemic.

Seventy-five years ago, on a day like tomorrow, the United Nations was created to be a global organization to act as the center of discussions on international cooperation, economic and social development, and international peace and security. It was the optimism of the U.N.

Charter that instilled our faith in the U.N.’s ability to create a better world for us and our children. The global platform has helped bring world leaders together during some of the most challenging times, such as today. As Member States, I believe we need to support the United Nations as it evolves into a more agile and accountable institution. The world is changing dramatically, and an upgraded United Nations must both adapt and stay relevant.

Having overcome a three-decade long war, Sri Lanka is on a transformative journey to becoming a more sustainable and resilient country. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all desperately searching for solutions to build back our economies, societies and global networks. We are firm in our commitment to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, and create a greener and more sustainable environment for the future. I call upon my fellow world leaders to work collectively in restoring compassion back to the eco-system in our respective countries.

I appreciate the United Nations support for a wide range of sectors such as health, education, environment, agriculture and food security. One of my most important memories working with the U.N. is when I had the opportunity to work with children, especially after the Easter Sunday attacks and during the pandemic. In addition to remaining committed to children’s rights and safety, I remain equally committed to addressing the challenges faced by women and girls, the elderly and the differently-abled, and look forward to working closely with the U.N. Resident Coordinator and the Country Team.

I extend my best wishes to the entire U.N. team here in Sri Lanka as you mark United Nations Day tomorrow, and I expect to continue the close cooperation in the years to come.

Thank you!

Prime Minister’s Media Unit

Calling on Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees this evening, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea Woonjin Jeong called Sri Lanka one of the safest countries,” and said he is actively encouraging Korean investors to explore opportunities in Sri Lanka.

Several decades ago, Korea was one of the largest investors in Sri Lanka. Currently, there are more than 115 Korean companies operating in the country, and total trade between the two countries stood at US$ 327 million last year. Both countries are keen on increasing that number.

Ambassador Jeong also congratulated the Prime Minister on the victory in the recently-held General Election and said it was trust and confidence” that resulted in the mandate the Government received. He also commended the Government on its handling of the pandemic and said the Korean Government would be providing tangible support to Sri Lanka in coping with the COVID-19 crisis.

The two delegations discussed a number of priorities for further cooperation between Sri Lanka and Korea that included FDIs, exports, tourism and migrant workers.

Prime Minister Rajapaksa recalled the phone call with Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun earlier this week and renewed his invitation for the Korean Prime Minister to make his first ever visit to Sri Lanka.

Noting that the Korean Prime Minister is keen on visiting Sri Lanka, Ambassador Jeong said, We are and will always be close friends.”

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

දෙදහස් තිහ වසරවනවිට ගෝලීය තිරසර සංවර්ධන ඉලක්ක සාක්ෂාත් කර ගැනීම උදෙසා ශ්‍රි ලංකාව කැපවන බව ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා අද 2020.10.23 දින පැවැසීය.

අන්තර්ජාල වීඩියෝ තාක්ෂණය ඔස්සේ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ 75 වැනි සංවත්සර දින සැමරුමට එක්වෙමින් අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා මේ බව අවධාරණය කළේය.

අනාගතය උදෙසා හරිත හා තිරසර පරිසරයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමේ අවශ්‍යතාව පෙන්වා දුන් අග්‍රාමාත්‍යතුමා විවිධ බලපෑම් සහ දූෂණයට ලක්වූ අපගේ පරිසර පද්ධති ප්‍රතිස්ථාපනය කිරීම උදෙසා ක්‍රියාකාරී මට්ටමෙන් සාමූහිකව මැදිහත්වන්නැයි ලෝක නායකයන්ගෙන් මෙහිදී ඉල්ලා සිටියේය.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා කළ සම්පූර්ණ කතාව මෙසේය.

එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයේ 75 වැනි සැමරුම් උත්සවයට එක්වීම සඳහා ආරාධනා කිරීම පිළිබදව එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයට මාගේ ස්තුතිය පුදකරන්න කැමැතියි.

මෙම ඓතිහාසික අවස්ථාවේදී ශ්‍රි ලංකාව සමඟ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය වසර 65ක් පුරා පැවතෙන දිගුකාලීන සබදතාව සිහිපත් කළ යුතුයි.

කොවිඩ්- 19 වසංගත තත්ත්වය මෙම වැදගත් දිනයේදී ඔබව එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධාන මූලස්ථානයේදී මුණගැසීම වළක්වා තිබෙනවා. කෙසේ වෙතත්, තාක්‍ෂණික දියුණුව අපව මුලුමනින්ම පාහේ එකට එක්කර තිබීම ගැන සතුටුයි.

කොරෝනා වයිරසයට එරෙහිව සටන් කිරීම සඳහා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට දැක්වූ සහයෝගයට එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයට ස්තූති කිරීමට මම මෙය අවස්ථාවක් කර ගන්නවා.

ලොව හමුවේ අභියෝගයක්වී තිබෙන මෙම පෙර නොවූ විරූ ගෝලීය සෞඛ්‍ය අර්බුධය මගහරවා ගැනීම සඳහා අන් කවරදාටත් වඩා අප සාමූහිකව කටයුතු කිරීම ඉතා වැදගත්වෙනවා.

මීට අවුරුදු හැත්තෑපහකට පෙර ගෝලීය සංවිධානයක් ලෙස එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය බිහිවූයේ ජාත්‍යන්තර සාමය සහ ආරක්ෂාව, ආර්ථික හා සමාජ සංවර්ධනය ඇතුළත් ජාත්‍යන්තර සහයෝගීතාව අරමුණු කරගෙනයි.

අපට සහ අපේ දරුවන්ට වඩා හොඳ ලෝකයක් නිර්මාණය කිරීමට එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ප්‍රඥප්තියට ඇති හැකියාව පිළිබඳව අපට විශ්වාසයක් තිබෙනවා. එමෙන්ම අද වැනි ඉතා අභියෝගාත්මක කාල වකවානුවක ලෝක නායකයන් එක් වේදිකාවකට ගෙනඒමට එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය උපකාරී වී තිබෙනවා.ඒ නිසා සමාජික රටවල් ලෙස මේ වගකිවයුතු මොහොතේ එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයට අපගේ සහයෝගය දැක්විය යුතුයැයි මම විශ්වාස කරනවා. එමෙන්ම දිනෙන් දින වෙනස්වන ලෝකයට අදාළවන පරිදි එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය හැඩගැසිය යුතුයි.

දශක තුනක දීර්ඝකාලීන යුද්ධයකින් ජයගත් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මේ වනවිට තිරසර ඉලක්ක සාක්ෂාත්කරගැනීමට යොමුවෙමින් පරිවර්තනීය සංවර්ධන මාවතක ගමන් කරමින් සිටිනවා.

නමුත් කොවිඩ්-19 වසංගතය හමුවේ අප සියලු දෙනා නැවත අපගේ ආර්ථික, සමාජයීය සහ ජාලගත ජාත්‍යන්තර සබඳතා නැවත ගොඩනගා ගැනීමට විසඳුම් සොයමින් සිටිනවා.

2030 වසරවනවිට හරිතවත් සහ වඩා තිරසර අනාගතයක් නිර්මාණය කරගැනීම වෙනුවෙන් තිරසර සංවර්ධන ඉලක්ක ජයගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය කැපවීම අප රජයක් ලෙස භාරගෙන තිබෙනවා.

සෞඛ්‍ය, අධ්‍යාපන, පරිසර, කෘෂිකර්ම සහ ආහාර සුරක්ෂිතතාව වෙනුවෙන් එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය ලබාදෙන පුළුල් සහයෝගය මේ මොහොතේ මා අගය කරන අතර අපගේ රටවල පරිසර පද්ධතිය යථා තත්ත්වයට පත්කර ගැනීමට අවශ්‍ය සාමූහික කැපවීමෙන් කටයුතු කරන්නැයි මා ලෝක නායකයන්ගෙන් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා.

පාස්කු දින ඉරිදා ත්‍රස්ත ප්‍රහාරයෙන් අනතුරුවත් කොවිඩ් වසංගත තත්ත්වයට මුහුණදෙන අතරතුරේදීත්  එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය සමඟ එක්ව විශේෂයෙන් දැයේ දරුවන් සමඟ කටයුතු කිරීමට අවස්ථාව ලැබීම මා භාග්‍යක් කොට සලකනවා. එහිදී අපගේ දරුවන්ගේ ඔරොත්තුදීමේ හැකියාව පුදුම සහගතයි.

දරුවන්ගේ අයිතිවාසිකම් සහ ආරක්ෂාවට අමතරව ගැහැණු ළමයින්, කාන්තාවන්, වැඩිහිටියන් සහ විශේෂ අවශ්‍යතා සහිත පුද්ගලයන් මුහුණදෙන අභියෝගයන්ට පිළියම් සෙවීම සඳහා එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානය සහ එම සංවිධානයේ මෙරට නේවාසික නියෝජිත සමඟ ඉදිරියේදී සමීපව කටයුතු කිරීමට මා බලාපොරොත්තුවෙනවා.

එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ ඓතිහාසික හැත්තෑපස්වන සැමරුම් දිනය වෙනුවෙන් සමස්ත එක්සත් ජාතීන්ටම මාගේ සුබ පැතුම් එක්කරන අතර සමීප සහයෝගීතාව වර්ධනයවන අයුරින් අඛන්ඩව ඉදිරියේදීත් කටයුතු කිරීමට බලාපොරොත්තුවන බව සිහිපත් කරමි.

අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මාධ්‍ය අංශය

මෙරට කොරියානු තානාපති වුන්ජින් ජියොන්ග් මහතා සහ ගරු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා අතර හමුවක් අද 2020.10.23 දින අරලියගහ මන්දිරයේදී පැවැත්විණි.

මෙම හමුවේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ආරක්ෂිත රටක්” ලෙස පැවසූ කොරියානු තානාපති වුන්ජින් ජියොන්ග් මහතා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ආයෝජනය කිරීමට ඉදිරිපත්වන්නැයි කොරියානු ආයෝජකයන්ට ආරාධනා කළේය.

දශක කිහිපයකට පෙර කොරියාව මෙරට විශාලතම ආයෝජකයෙකි. මේ වන විට කොරියානු සමාගම් 115 කට වැඩි ප්‍රමාණයක් රට තුළ ක්‍රියාත්මක වන අතර දෙරට අතර සමස්ත වෙළඳාම පසුගිය වසරේදී ඇමරිකානු ඩොලර් මිලියන 327 ක් ඉක්මවිය. මෙම වෙළඳාම තවත් ඉහළ දැමීම සඳහා රටවල් දෙකම උනන්දුවෙයි.

පසුගිය මහ මැතිවරණයෙන් ලැබූ ජයග්‍රහණය පිළිබඳව මෙම හමුවේදී තානාපති ජියොන්ග් මහතා අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමාට සුබ පැතුම් එක් කළ අතර රජයට ලැබුණු ජනවරමට හේතු වූයේ විශ්වාසනීය බැඳීම බව සඳහන් කළේය.

කොවිඩ් – 19 වසංගතය පාලනය කිරීම පිළිබඳව රජයට ප්‍රශංසා කළ තානාපති වුන්ජින් ජියොන්ග් මහතා, කොවිඩ්-19 අර්බුදයට සාර්ථකව මුහුණ දීම සඳහා කොරියානු රජය ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට නිරත්තර සහයෝගය ලබා දෙන බව පැවසීය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සහ කොරියාව අතර ඉදිරියේදී ද්විපාර්ශවීය සහයෝගීතාව  වර්ධනයකරගත හැකි එෆ්.ඩී.අයි., අපනයන, සංචාරක සහ සංක්‍රමණික සේවකයන් පිළිබඳව මෙහිදී සාකච්ඡාවට ලක්විය.

කොරියානු අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය චුන්ග් සයි-කියුන් මැතිතුමා සමඟ කළ දුරකථන ඇමතුම සිහිපත් කළ අග්‍රාමාත්‍ය මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ මැතිතුමා කොරියානු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයාට ප්‍රථම වරට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරය කරන ලෙස කළ ආරාධනය තානාපති වුන්ජින් ජියොන්ග් මහතා සමග නැවත සිහිපත් කළේය.

කොරියානු අග්‍රාමාත්‍යවරයා ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට පැමිණීමට උනන්දුවක් දක්වන බව සඳහන් කළ තානාපති ජියොන්ග් මහතා, අපි සැමවිටම සමීප මිතුරන් වන්නෙමු.”යැයි මෙම හමුවේදී විශ්වාසය පළ කළේය.

Andrew Fidel Fernando Courtesy The Hindu

Critics have cast Murali as a ‘generic’ Sri Lankan Tamil to inflame their biases, but his story is more deeply layered

Occasionally, Muttiah Muralitharan has spoken of the anti-Tamil pogrom in 1977 when Sinhalese mobs ran a blade 12 inches across his father’s back, then burned down the family’s biscuit factory on the outskirts of the hill capital of Kandy, Sri Lanka.

In recent years, this harrowing story has been recounted at political events in support of Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and his Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP or People’s Front). The suggestion from Murali is that if he can forgive this heinous act of racial violence and go on to become one of Sri Lanka’s most celebrated figures, forgiveness should be beyond no one. This is glib, of course. For many Sri Lankan Tamils who suffered the appalling privations of war for decades, and were not insulated by the kind of wealth and status Murali enjoyed from his youth, forgiveness could not — and perhaps should not — come so easy.

Also read | Writer of Muralitharan biopic: ‘There are shades of grey in 800′

But is Murali any more guilty of simplistic reasoning than those who have spearheaded the backlash against his biopic, 800? Across social media, Murali has been flamed as a traitor to the Tamil cause”; accused of sidling up to the Sinhalese to perform the role of the Tamil mascot through whom southerners lived out delusions of their own benevolence. That Murali’s forays into political conversation have ranged from naive to calamitous is plain. (It is a view held even by some of his closest confidants.) But the suggestion that he should uncritically attach himself to the Tamil cause” requires investigation.

Many layers to history

There is layered history here. Thanks largely to its position along one of the planet’s busiest maritime routes, the island is a place of near-unfathomable ethnic, religious and historical complexity. Waves of migrants have arrived over several millennia, some from North and East India, from the Malabar coast, the Arabian gulf, and from Java, each group forming a unique relationship with the state. Tamils, likewise, had come in waves, for over 2,500 years, and Malayaha (hill country) Tamils, from among whom Murali hails, were among the last to make landfall, lured over by the British to live and labour in hill-country plantations in almost uniformly abysmal conditions, for little pay. More than 150 years into life on the island, Malayaha Tamils remain among the nation’s most impoverished ethnic groups, with most estate workers earning less than 800 rupees (about ₹320 Indian) a day. The community’s health care and education outcomes continue to desperately trail national averages.

The ‘Tamil cause’

More to the point, there has been no substantial political movement from Malayaha Tamils to join the separatist struggle that was produced in the north and east. For Tamils in the hills, economic concerns have long outstripped appetites for self-determination, and still do. Many also feel condescended to by northern Tamils, for their lower caste status, the recency of their arrival, and their use of a more common Tamil than the classical iteration of the language heard in Jaffna. If Murali is betraying the Tamil cause”, which Tamil cause, exactly? Higher wages for plantation workers was not among the LTTE’s primary demands. Minorities are not always political monoliths.

Also read | In Sri Lanka, a people living off borrowed money

Although Murali himself grew up in relative wealth, his father and uncle having sold biscuits out of the back of a car to build the business up in the 1960s, it can be no surprise that it is poverty that Murali has concerned himself with in his considerable charitable works. Though at the peak of his cricketing career at the time, Murali had been a key figure in securing the resources to build more than 1,000 homes for tsunami victims after the 2004 disaster. In the years since he has supported significant humanitarian operations across the island. Perhaps this is tangential, but it is certainly not irrelevant. Murali has helped transform more lives through his goodwill than arguably any living cricketer. Many of those who have had his support are Tamils, particularly in the aftermath of the tsunami, when he personally organised and delivered a convoy of lorries filled with supplies to the north.

Perhaps we should not be surprised that in casting Murali as a generic Sri Lankan Tamil, with no mention of his particular community, his harshest critics have stumbled into the same mire of illogic that inflamed the Sinhalese who attacked central hill-country Tamils over separatist agitations in the north and east. Nationalism, of any stripe, makes no concession to complexity. It smelts nuance down to a razor tip, for it has use only for weapons. Only a poster announcing the film was seen, but Indian actor Vijay Sethupathi has been forced to withdraw from the project. Somehow, Murali had not been so toxic when he played for Chennai Super Kings between 2008 and 2010 — years in which the war whipped up to its furious conclusion.

Editorial | Heckler’s veto: On Vijay Sethupathi’s withdrawal from Muralitharan biopic 800

Gripping script

If the film is canned following Sethupathi’s exit, one of sport’s most compelling stories will go untold on screen. Beyond his monumental cricketing exploits, Murali had also been strung up in a career-long tussle over his bowling action, which served as a flashpoint between the sport’s grudging western powers and South Asia’s burgeoning administrative heft. His politics have long been viewed as problematic, but who is to say 800 would not have enriched itself with such contentions? The latest novel from the film’s co-writer, Shehan Karunatilaka, is a searing critique of wartime Sri Lanka. Sethupathi’s track record suggests he possessed the depth and range to honestly and sensitively draw out the conflicts in Murali’s story. Lost on detractors was the notion there can be more than one kind of biopic. Just as there can be more than one kind of Sri Lankan Tamil.

Andrew Fidel Fernando is a writer for ESPNcricinfo, and the author of Upon a Sleepless Isle, an award-winning book on Sri Lanka

Hassan M Kamal Courtesy First Post

All New Delhi can hope for is that next time the Chines comes to collect, Sri Lanka doesn’t give up another portion of its sovereign territory, further strengthening the Chinese in India’s backyard

File image of Sri Lankan prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and president Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Reuters

India’s fears of Sri Lanka, under President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, dipping further into Chinese debt seems to be proving true earlier than thought with the country seeking an additional grant of $700 million from the China Development Bank.

While this is part of a syndicated $1.2 billion loan, Colombo’s decision to continue borrowing from the Chinese amid a heightened tension between India and China and despite Sri Lanka’s commitment to put “India first”, shows that the island nation’s financial status makes it a somewhat unreliable partner in India’s plans.

Sri Lanka’s decision to seek financial assistance from China is also one of the realities post-COVID-19 that the world has no option but to accept.

Just like every other developing economy of the world, Sri Lanka has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to reports, the coronavirus has not only reversed “more than five years’ worth of progress in improving welfare” in the country, it would push 8.9 lakh more people to poverty.

The World Bank and the IMF have forecast a GDP contraction up to almost seven percent. Last month, the Moody’s downgraded Lanka’s sovereign credit rating by two notches, pushing the country further down in the very high credit risk” category, saying the South Asian nation would be hard-pressed to secure funding to service its huge foreign debt.

According to a Reuters report, Sri Lanka had debt payments amounting to $3.2 billion between July and December 2020. Going by these figures, and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s recent announcement of the country paid $1 billion international sovereign bond (ISB) earlier this month, it still leaves the country with a debt of $2.2 billion to be paid by the end of the year. And, even if Sri Lanka, somehow manages to pay that debt by end of 2020, the country will have a daunting $4.5 billion loan to pay next year around July.

As per a Nikkei Asia report, the ultra nationalist government in power in Sri Lanka desperately needs cash to service over $15 billion owed to foreign creditors, while its overall foreign debt is even higher at $50.8 billion. Meanwhile, after the September payout, its foreign reserves have shrunk to $6.4 billion.

As Ajith Nivard Cabraal, a state minister, recently said to The Hindu in an interview, Sri Lanka needs cash and the Chinese have it.

“In different times in world history, different countries have been the ones who have had the most amount of cash. And now it happens to be China, so China will naturally invest all over the world. I think we should all respect that,” said Cabral also a former governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

The $700 million that Sri Lanka is seeking from the China Development Bank is part of a syndicated $1.2 loan, of which it has already received $500 million earlier this year.

According to Cabraal, Sri Lanka is exploring several options to repay its debt include additional loans from China, currency swap facilities with India and China, and Samurai and Panda bonds.

While the Samurai bonds are Japanese Yen-denominated bonds sold by a non-Japanese issuer in Japan, Panda bonds are Chinese renminbi-denominated bond sold by a non-Chinese company in China. Most recently Indonesia had raised $930 million in Samurai bonds to help the government cover the fiscal deficit and fund the coronavirus pandemic response.

Note that neither the IMF nor the World Bank features in Sri Lanka’s plans to repay its huge debt.

The Rajapaksas are known to be pro-China — it was during the second term of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the elder brother of current president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, that “Colombo allowed China to freely spread itself out in Sri Lanka”, including allowing a Chinese military submarine and a PLA warship to dock in the Colombo harbour ignoring India’s concerns — according the Nikkei Asia, a major reason for the Rajapaksa’s going to China and not the IMF or World Bank, is because both the IMF and the World are seen as having “imperial and colonial” trappings.

Even though local analysts say that IMF may be the best option for the debt-ridden country and could put the country on a sustainable path and make its bonds a bit attractive, the global lender’s poor track record is hard to ignore.

“Part of Sri Lanka’s political tradition views the IMF with suspicion, and going to it is presented as having a negative outcome,” Nishan De Mel, executive director of Verite Research, a Colombo think tank, told Nikkei Asia.

And that’s why soon after the Rajapaksa government came to power in 2019, it abruptly ended discussions on a $1.2 billion loan from the IMF started by the previous Maithripala Sirisena-led govt.

According to an AIDData.org database of China’s investments made with a diplomatic investment, as of 2017, China has invested $12.88 billion in Sri Lanka, the second highest in the Indian Ocean Region after Pakistan ($38.87 billion). Bangladesh follows closely with $10.51 billion assistance.

Another reason, Sri Lanka may be choosing to borrow from China rather than the IMF or World Bank is the western lenders reluctance in financing infrastructure projects. According to a Brookings report, earlier 70 percent of World Bank financing used to got to economic infrastructure, that figures now stands at around 30 percent.

The Chinese creditors currently account for 10% of Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt of $50.8 billion, and most of their investments are in large infrastructure projects over the last few decades.

The fact is that given the current political environment and the post-Pandemic realities, Sri Lanka borrowing from the Chinese is a reality India will have to accept. All New Delhi can hope for is that next time the Chines comes to collect, Sri Lanka doesn’t give up another portion of its sovereign territory, further strengthening the Chinese in India’s backyard.

By Savithri Sellapperumage Courtesy The Diplomat

Can Sri Lanka live up to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s environmental commitments? 

The focus on Sri Lanka’s deforestation and the conservation of forests this year can be traced back to widespread discussions about deforestation in Wilpattu  National Park back in 2019. Deforestation in Wanathawillu, Anawilundawa and Sinharaja has been the recent focus of discussion. However, reports of more deforestation and illegal commercial or developmental projects have been reported from many parts of the country. Since then, the topic has become affiliated with politics and certain political figures. The blame game has advanced amid the lack of political authority.

The forest cover of Sri Lanka in 2019 was reported to be 16.5 percent, down from 29.7 percent in 2017. According to Dr. Ravindra Kariyawasam, in 1882, the country’s forest density was around 82 percent. Between 1990 and 2000, Sri Lanka lost an average of 26,800 hectares of forest per year, which amounts to an average annual deforestation rate of 1.14 percent. In total, between 1990 and 2005 alone, Sri Lanka lost 17.7 percent of its forest cover.

Controversial Legal Moves

Recently, environmentalists have taken issue with the Sri Lankan cabinet’s recently announced plan to revoke Circular No. 5/2001, which protests the country’s Other State Forests (OSFs), and transfer jurisdiction for these protected areas from the Forest Department  to the authorities at the divisional and district levels. Amid the public uproar, further discussions are to be held, with the cabinet instructed to form a committee to investigate the potential negative impacts of the move, and to gather feedback.

According to RMCM Herath, Sri Lanka’s land commissioner general, the circular will not be revoked immediately. It will happen step by step. The Forest Department, the Wildlife Conservation Department, the Land Commissioner’s Department, the Land Policy and Planning Department, the Land Survey Department, the Land Reforms Commission and other relevant authorities will together consider the best way forward.”

While the formation of a committee is exemplary, the step by step” approach to revoking the measure makes it urgent for environmentalists and other stakeholders to analytically observe the committee’s recommendations and decisions. The circular safeguards around 500,000 hectares of OSFs that are not otherwise protected. As these forests are used by animals, especially elephants, as migratory corridors, their segregation into agricultural lands might lead to increased elephant-human conflict, thus again adversely affecting the economy and livelihoods of communities living in the area.

Also sparking debate were provisions made under the Extraordinary Gazette 2192/36 of September 10, in which the government planned to issue legal documents confirming ownership to eligible claimants who have occupied state lands, for agricultural or any development activity, without possessing formal documents. Coupled with the attempts to revoke Circular No. 5/2001, the protection of OSFs appears to be in danger. On a positive note, the Extraordinary Gazette allowing persons to occupy state lands has been cancelled amid complaints that the gazette promoted people to illegally take over lands, hoping for the granting of official land deeds. However, the damage caused to forest patches during the few days the Gazette was in force has not yet been calculated.

The Politics of Forest Protection

The current government has committed to increase Sri Lanka’s national forest cover by 30 percent during its term in office. Under the Vistas of Splendor” plan, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has emphasized the need for a sustainable environmental policy and emphasized the need for sustainable development.

The ongoing deforestation in Sri Lanka needs to be tackled and mitigated if the country is to reach the 30 percent target. Given such a goal, news of the deforestation of protected areas is a nightmare for conservationists and environmentalists. The construction of the Neluwa-Lankagama-Deniyaya Road, along with deforestation in Anawilundawa in order to establish a prawn farm, caught the attention of social media and several interest groups. Furthermore, the involvement of a few newly elected parliamentarians was reported, creating an uproar from the public. Investigations are underway.

The issue has caught the president’s attentions as well, and Rajapaksa reiterated that development has to take place without harm to the environment. However, the diffusion of the president’s aims and vision to the relevant political authorities and bureaucratic authorities seems questionable, amid incidents of deforestation and increased human activity. Development projects within forest areas have failed to produce environmental assessments, and make little effort to steer clear of illegal intrusion.

Election promises, a lack of political authority and a lack of sustainable strategies have led to the blind advancement of unsustainable development projects. This needs to be evaluated and altered accordingly, through a process in which each point of authority will be held responsible from the political level to the bureaucratic level.

The Need to Promote Sustainable Development

Rajapaksa, addressing members of the Viyathmaga network of professionals and academics last month, once again emphasized the importance of a development that safeguards the environment. He underscored the necessity of sound policies to support that vision. To that end, we can incorporate Professor Mohan Munasinghe’s theory of Sustainomics, where sustainable development requires balanced and integrated analysis from three main perspectives: social, economic and environmental. In pursuing economic growth, equal attention should be paid to the social and environment aspects as well. If any of these three pillars is given unequal attention, development will be asymmetrical.

Sri Lanka needs sound policies in which present resources can be used to their maximum extent rather than clearing forests to open up new land. For example, the need for more agricultural land is a fallacy, Hemantha Withanage, executive director of the Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), insists. The country has no shortage of farmland. It doesn’t take a genius to see there is so much that is fit for farming that is not being used properly,” he said in a recent interview. Withanage further explained that the majority of farmers are no longer engaged in chena cultivation (also known as shifting agriculture), because it hasn’t proved to be profitable.

They have no transport systems, storage or sales,” Withanage said. What’s the point giving them more land with no systems to deal with the harvest? What we lack isn’t land. We lack infrastructure.”

Public Responsibility

Civic awareness, knowledge and progressive attitudes are all imperative for combating climate change. Global leaders have come together to control rising global heat and even the children in many countries have spoken up, actively participating in the fight against climate change. Some of the irrational arguments and statements of citizens that have been popularized recently in Sri Lanka’s mainstream media suggest an attitudinal gap as well as of a lack of knowledge about the significance of forest conservation and management. In search of economic prosperity, the majority of Sri Lankans seem willing to give a green light to the over-utilization of environmental resources.

However, Rajapaksa has repeatedly affirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to eco-responsibility. The ancient governance of Sri Lanka was built on the concept that the ruler is never the owner of the land; he is merely its caretaker on behalf of his countrymen and all living beings,” Rajapaksa told the Plenary of the United Nations Summit on Biodiversity on September 30. His pledge to act as a trustee of the planet and its resources for future generations comes at a vital time, as climate action and sustainability needs to be the foundation of governance across nations.

Reflecting the president’s pledge, Sri Lanka must aspire to align its development framework with sustainability goals, while simultaneously encouraging civic sentiments that are supportive of environmental conservation.

Savithri Sellapperumage is an Associate Research Fellow at the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka (INSSSL), a national think tank under the Ministry of Defense. The opinion expressed is her own and not necessarily reflective of the institute.

Courtesy RT

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, Beijing, China (FILE PHOTO) © REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

As the US demands Sri Lanka make a choice over its economic allegiances, the Chinese foreign ministry has warned that Washington’s attempt to bully nations into cutting their ties with Beijing won’t succeed.

Speaking on Friday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters that American efforts to disrupt Chinese relations with other countries will not be successful, adding that the US is pressuring nations into picking sides.

Zhao’s statement comes a day after the US State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs official, Dean Thompson, urged Sri Lanka to make difficult but necessary choices” in securing its economic independence.

We encourage Sri Lanka to review the options we offer for transparent and sustainable economic development in contrast to discriminatory and opaque practices,” Thompson said.

His comments come a week before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives, and Indonesia. It is likely the main objective of the visit is to amass support against China and its influence in the region.

The US and Pompeo have maintained a tough stance on China’s role in the developing world, contending that China’s debt diplomacy” often leaves poorer nations burdened with debt it cannot afford to service.

Earlier this month, a high-profile Chinese delegation flew to Colombo to meet Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, as Beijing is seeking to deepen its economic ties in the region, including through cooperation to battle the impact of Covid-19. Following the visit, Sri Lanka asked China for a $700 million syndicated loan, in addition to the $500 million already received from Beijing, aimed at helping Colombo cope during the pandemic.

China accuses the US of undermining regional stability. Last week, as the US Navy destroyer USS Barry sailed through the Taiwan Strait, it protested at Washington’s interference. The US claimed the vessel was in routine transit.”  ALSO ON RT.COMChina to make ‘necessary response’ after US approves $1.8bn arms sale to Taiwan

The spiraling war of words between China and the US has escalated in recent months in relation to Washington’s sale of arms to Taiwan and ramped-up US military operations in the South and East China Seas. In addition, the US has attempted to build a NATO-like alliance with regional powers, leading the Chinese to slam Washington’s old-fashioned Cold War mentality.”

Courtesy Aljazeera

Beijing says Washington acting with ‘Cold War mentality’ after US official urges Sri Lanka to make ‘difficult but necessary choices’.

China says the United States is bullying other countries to pick sides over their ties to Beijing after a senior Washington official called on Sri Lanka to make difficult but necessary choices” in an apparent reference at China deepening its influence over the South Asian country.

In a news conference on Friday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said such efforts by the US administration against Beijing would not succeed, dismissing the comments as showing a Cold War mentality”.KEEP READINGPompeo in Japan to boost ties with Asian allies to counter ChinaSri Lanka Parliament votes to strengthen presidential powerWhy Sri Lanka jailed a Muslim lawyer without charge for 6 months

The US is urging Sri Lanka to make the difficult but necessary choices” to secure its economic independence for long-term prosperity instead of choosing opaque practices, Dean Thompson, principal deputy assistant secretary at State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, said on Thursday.

We encourage Sri Lanka to review the options we offer for transparent and sustainable economic development in contrast to discriminatory and opaque practices,” said Thompson.

Pompeo to visit Sri Lanka

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Sri Lanka next week as part of a wider trip that includes India, Maldives and Indonesia with the main goal expected to be garnering support in countering China.

Pompeo’s trip comes a week before the November 3 US election in which President Donald Trump has made being tough on China a key part of his campaign to secure a second term.

Trump has blamed China for mishandling the spread of the coronavirus which has killed 221,000 people in the US and more than 1.1 million globally.

Pompeo and other senior US officials have kept harsh rhetoric on China, dismissing Beijing’s investments across the globe as debt diplomacy” alleging that it leaves poorer nations saddled with too much debt.

In a telephonic briefing with reporters, without explicitly naming China, US officials warned the Sri Lankan government about who they team up with for their economic partnerships.

China has been making increasing inroads into South Asia with its Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at financing critical infrastructure in dozens of countries across the world.

In 2017, Sri Lanka signed over control of a Chinese-financed port and land around it to Beijing after incurring heavy losses, to the alarm of the US and regional power, India.

By Umesh Moramudali Courtesy The Diplomat

Both the share and the type of loans from China are changing as Sri Lanka wrestles with persistent balance of payment issues.

The recent visit of Yang Jiechi, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Politburo member and previously China’s foreign minister, to Sri Lanka sparked interest among many. To begin with, Sri Lanka’s opposition raised concerns about the visit of the Chinese delegation amid a global pandemic and the delegation not being subject to usual quarantine practices. These concerns were followed by the widely speculated Chinese debt trap narrative in light of the discussions held between Sri Lankan leaders and the Chinese delegation. Those discussions were largely about economic corporation between two countries – and of course the Chinese loans and investments.

Subsequent to these discussions, China provided 600 million renminbi ($90 billion, or 16.5 billion Sri Lankan rupees) in grant assistance in an agreement signed by Wang Xiaotao, chairman of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA). Local newspapers reported that during the visit of the Chinese delegation, there were discussions about obtaining a $500 million syndicated loan from China Development Bank (CDB).

A unique feature of a syndicated loan, or Foreign Currency Term Financing Facility (FTFF) as it is also known, is that the loan is not attached to a project, thus the Sri Lankan government has the liberty to use the loan money at their will. This is contrary to project loans, in which loan money should be strictly used only for project purposes. Hence, a project loan does not provide a way out from a balance of payment crisis in the short term. Often, when Sri Lanka has faced balance of payment (BOP) issues, they seek the support of the IMF, which provided short-term loans to strengthen foreign reserves, thereby assisting Sri Lanka to manage immediate BOP issues.

This scenario of seeking China’s financial support can be seen as an indication of shifting debt dynamics between Sri Lanka and China. It doesn’t mean that Sri Lanka would stop borrowing from China or significantly reduce obtaining Chinese loans, but it does indicate a change of the nature of Chinese loans obtained by Sri Lanka.

Prior to 2015, almost all Chinese loans were project loans, the majority of which were obtained from Chinese EXIM Bank for heavy infrastructure construction projects. These include Hambantota port, Colombo-Katunayake Expressway, and Mattala Airport. The money obtained through these project loans was not permitted to be used for other purposes. The government does not really have financial autonomy pertaining to these project loans (or, for that matter, any project loan obtained from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, or Japan International Cooperation Agency). These loans therefore do not provide much support to overcome BOP crises, which have been a persistent issue faced by Sri Lanka.

In that context, Sri Lanka was compelled to focus beyond project loans and look at loan instruments that would assist them in managing BOP crises and short-term public finance issues encountered by the government. Syndicated loans were identified as a potential loan instrument (type of loan) that would assist the government with these short-term concerns as these type of loans have no restrictions in terms of spending. In addition, such loans are often provided at one go as opposed to several disbursements over a period of years, and give financial autonomy to the government, thus assisting the government to manage budget deficits as well as strengthen foreign reserves.

This is quite similar to the international sovereign bonds (ISBs) issued by Sri Lanka, through which dollar-denominated loans are obtained from international capital markets. ISBs provide this financial autonomy at the expense of high interest rates and short repayment periods. To put it in simple terms, the Sri Lankan government faces no restrictions on how it spends money lent through sovereign bonds. The government has freedom to use the money to carry out any project they would like.

This financial autonomy, and the reduction of concessionary loans provided to Sri Lanka after its upgrade to middle income status, made ISBs a widely adopted method by successive Sri Lankan governments to obtain foreign loans. Sri Lanka issued its first ISB in 2007 and, as of the end of 2019, approximately 47 percent of its total foreign loans are ISBs. The short-term maturity structure of ISBs and the requirement to repay the principal payment at once put pressure on the BOP status of the country, as ISB maturities cause massive foreign currency outflows.ADVERTISEMENT

Data from the External Resource Department, Sri Lanka.

Against this backdrop, Sri Lanka started to look at alternative methods of foreign financing in order to reduce the pressure on its BOP. Obtaining a Foreign Currency Term Facility (syndicated loan) was one option. In 2018, the then Sri Lankan government obtained a $1 billion syndicated loan from China Development Bank. This loan was obtained at the USD LIBOR 6 month interest rate (a global benchmark), plus a margin of 2.56 percent per annum and a payback period of eight years (with a grace period of three years).

This loan was upsized in March 2020 and another $500 million syndicated loan was obtained from the CDB, including an extension of the payback period to 10 years. The interest rate too is an improvement over 2018, with the USD LIBOR 6 month rate in 2020 being less than that of 2018.

Future Public Debt Dynamics of Sri Lanka

The potential change in the approach to Chinese debt comes down to Sri Lankan economy’s chronic structural weaknesses, such as low exports and low tax revenue. Weak performances in the external sector, largely led by poor export performances and failure to attract sufficient foreign direct investment, have led the economy to suffer from persistent BOP issues. Tackling these issues require massive amounts of foreign financing each year.

This development is likely to result in a few outcomes. In the next three years, sovereign bond repayments amount to $6.3 billion. In light of this, the Sri Lankan government might obtain more syndicated loans from China to bridge its foreign financing gap and manage foreign reserves, thereby tackling its BOP challenges.

Data from the External Resource Department, Sri Lanka.

In that context, it is possible that syndicated loans from China will be used as an alternative to raising money through issuing sovereign bonds. This will allow the government to diversify its debt portfolio and reduce the reliance on sovereign bonds. Within the next five years sovereign bond the Sri Lankan government is likely to use Chinese syndicated loans or such loans obtained from other lenders to finance a portion of large debt repayments instead of entirely relying on sovereign bonds. With the potential high interest to be paid on sovereign bonds due to the downgraded country ratings, syndicated loans would be an attractive alternative to the government.

It is also clear that the Sri Lankan government sees syndicated loans from China as an alternative to IMF loans to tackle BOP issues. The loan said to be negotiated during the visit of the Chinese delegation in October would assist the country to manage foreign reserves in the short term, thereby allowing it to avoid seeking the support of the IMF.

This potential scenario is likely to result in an increase in the Chinese portion of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, with a potential reduction of the share of sovereign bonds. By the end of 2019, only 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s total foreign debt is owed to China while 47 percent of foreign debts are sovereign bonds.  Such a shift will also significantly change the composition of Sri Lanka’s Chinese debt. By the end of 2019, nearly 85 percent of the Chinese loans were export credits, most of which were obtained from EXIM Bank of China. If Sri Lanka obtains the latest syndicated loan from China, that will increase the syndicated loan portion up to more than 25 percent of total Chinese debt. This figure is likely to increase given the possibilities of obtaining more syndicated loans in the future.ADVERTISEMENT

On a macro level, Sri Lanka’s foreign debt stock will rise. Given the low tax revenue, coupled with the restricted lending capacity of banks due to the loans provided for businesses during COVID-19 pandemic, the government will be compelled to borrow from foreign sources. Increasing reliance on foreign debt is also possible due to the significant reduction of export earnings, including the earnings from tourism, which also reduces foreign currency inflows. This will put more pressure on Sri Lanka’s ability to settle foreign debt payments, resulting in borrowing from foreign sources due to the dearth of foreign currency (dollar) inflows.

As a result, the foreign public debt stock of the country is likely to become larger than the domestic debt stock. Currently Sri Lanka’s foreign debt amounts to 42.6 percent of the GDP while the domestic debt stock amounts to 44.1 percent. Consistent issuing of sovereign bonds in order to finance foreign debt repayments (including previous sovereign bond maturities) had substantially increased the foreign debt stock in the recent past. In 2012, when the first sovereign bond maturity was due, Sri Lanka’s foreign debt stock amounted to 31.7 percent of the GDP; by the end of 2019, it had risen to 42.6 percent. Massive sovereign bond repayments in the upcoming years may result in foreign debt stock surpassing the domestic debt stock. It is likely that some Sri Lanka’s future sovereign bond repayments will be financed by Chinese loans, without relying on issuing still more sovereign bonds.

Umesh Moramudali is an economic researcher focusing on public debt dynamics and economic development in Sri Lanka. He is a Chevening scholar and holds an M.Sc in Economics from the University of Warwick. The opinions and analysis presented here are the author’s alone and by no means reflect the views of the institutions that the author is affiliated with.

Courtesy The Daily Mirror

Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Diana Gamage yesterday said she would continue to support President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to build the nation.

Speaking during an adjournment debate in the House, she said she decided to support President Gotabaya as she felt he is capable of building the nation.

During his tenure as the Defence Secretary he did a lot of work. Thousands use walking tracks built by him,” she said.

She said the country does not need a President without powers. We need a powerful President. Why should we spend funds and hold a presidential election and tie the President’s hands and throw him into a river expecting him to swim? He will not be able to swim when his hands are tied,” she added.

I would have voted in favour of the 20th Amendment even if Sajith Premadasa was the President of this country.” (Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana)

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka saw the highest daily record in Covid-19 cases today while the total number of confirmed infections surpassed the grim milestone of 7,000.

As per the statistics of the Health Ministry, the confirmed cases count now stands at 7,153.

The Department of Government Information said a total of 866 infections have been registered today:

• Galle fisheries harbour – 05
• Beruwala fisheries harbour – 20
• Peliyagoda Fish Market – 535
• Quarantine centres – 48
• Close contacts of Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda clusters – 257
• Arrival from South Korea under quarantine – 01

Thereby, positive cases reported from Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda clusters escalated to 3,682.

With the new development, the number of active cases currently under medical care has accelerated to 3,495.

Recoveries from Covid-19 meanwhile hiked to 3,644 earlier today after 83 patients were discharged from hospitals upon returning to health.

The country saw the second-highest daily total on the 6th of October, with 739 infections from the Minuwangoda cluster.

Courtesy Adaderana

Sri Lanka recorded the highest daily count of Covid-19 cases today (23) as 256 more persons were tested positive for the virus.

Reports revealed that 39 of these fresh cases are connected to the Peliyagoda Fish Market and the remaining 217 are contacts of Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda clusters.

Thereby, positive cases reported from the two clusters escalated to 3,682.

A total of 865 infections have been registered so far within the day, according to the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID 19 Outbreak (NOCPCO).

The country saw the second-highest daily total on the 6th of October, with 739 infections from the Minuwangoda cluster.