{"id":110708,"date":"2021-01-15T17:23:35","date_gmt":"2021-01-16T00:23:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=110708"},"modified":"2021-01-15T17:23:35","modified_gmt":"2021-01-16T00:23:35","slug":"the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/01\/15\/the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c10\/","title":{"rendered":"THE POHOTTUWA GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA Part 2 C10"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The Indian Ocean is the third-largest\nocean in the world. It is 70,560,000 km2<\/sup>\n(27,240,000 sq mi) in extent. It is bounded by Asia<\/a> to the\nnorth, Africa<\/a> to the west,\nAustralia<\/a> to the east and Antarctica to the\nsouth. The Arabian Sea<\/a>, the Laccadive\nSea<\/a>, the Somali Sea, Bay of Bengal<\/a>, and the Andaman\nSea<\/a> are located within the Indian Ocean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially,\nonly the sea around South Asia was known as Indian Ocean. The western section\nwas known in ancient times as the Erythraean Sea. Erythraean Sea included the\nPersian Gulf and Red Sea.  In the 16th<\/sup>\ncentury the various part of the Indian Ocean was given new    Latin names by European explorers.  Indian Ocean was Mare Indicum. Eastern section\nincluding Bay of Bengal was Sinus Gangeticus. Red Sea and adjacent waters were\nknown as Sinus Arabicus. The sea below Sri Lanka was known as Mare Prasodun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nIndian Ocean <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Source  \nInternational Hydrographic\nOrganization<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The modern\npolitical history of the Indian Ocean begins with World War II (1939-1945) when\nJapan bombed Colombo harbor. When WWII ended, the Cold War between USA and\nRussia started. These Cold War confrontations (1947-1991) were mainly in Mediterranean,\nAtlantic and Pacific Oceans. However, the Indian Ocean was not forgotten, it\nwas left in the military care of UK. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 1950s,\nUK started to lose control in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka for instance, took\nback its air and naval bases. In 1956, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal which\nwas \u2018owned \u2018by UK and France.  The Suez\nCanal incident made US rethink, said Keerawella.  US decided to set up bases in the Indian Ocean\nas well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early\n1960s,  when UK decided to withdraw from the\nIndian Ocean US wanted to establish a navy base on one of UK\u2019s island\nterritories. The US requested an unpopulated island belonging to the UK. Diego\nGarcia was selected. In November 1965, the UK purchased the Chagos Archipelago<\/a>, which\nincludes Diego Garcia, from Mauritius   and in 1966, the United States and the UK signed\nan agreement, which permitted the United States to use Diego Garcia, for\ndefense purposes for 50 years until December 2016, followed by a 20-year\nextension to 2036. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But things\ndid not go as planned. China emerged as a global power sooner than expected and\nwas threatening US position as the world leader. Also economic power was now\nmoving to Asia, thanks to the Asian Tigers and China. The richest persons in the world were now increasingly found in\nAsia. Asia would surpass North America and Europe\ncombined in global power on GDP, population size, military spending, and\ntechnology by 2030, said experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore it\nbecame necessary to somehow link the west and east geographically so that USA\ncould continue to dominate. The Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean had to be\nbrought to together as one political region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, an\nartificial Asia Pacific region was created. \nThis Asia-Pacific included\nthe Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean. Land wise, it included East\nAsia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation\n(APEC) was established in 1989, for free trade between the 21 countries in the\nPacific Rim. It was initiated by Australia. Australia hoped to play the leading\nrole in APEC. But APEC was an economic concept not a security one.  It was soon forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\n \n         APEC countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the\nemergence of China as a global power, a military linkup, not an economic one,\nwas needed, a link up which would let western powers into the Indian Ocean at\nthe military level. The idea of an \u2018Indo- Pacific\u2019 region was mooted.  The term \u2018Indo-Pacific brought the Indian and\nPacific Ocean and landmass around them into one theatre. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\n \n PACIFIC OCEAN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The term Indopazifischer\nRaum (Indo-Pacific Space), first coined by German geopolitical thinker Karl\nHaushofer in 1920, is perhaps the first academic statement on the Indo-Pacific,\nobserved Asanga Abeygoonasekera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2007 G.S\n.Khanna of the Institute of Defense Studies, New Delhi used the term Indo\nPacific\u201d combining Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean into single regional\nconstruct, noted Keerawella. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe employed the\nterm in his speech to the Indian Parliament in August 2007.  In 2018, the\nUS Pacific Command changed its name to Indo-Pacific Command. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keerawella\npointed out that   the concept of Indo-Pacific\nwas very useful to USA, because when the Indian and Pacific Oceans are\nintegrated, US becomes an inside power. On the other hand, Keerawella observed,\nwhen South Asia is repositioned in the new strategic map of Indo Pacific, Sri\nLanka is no longer the center as in the case of the Indian Ocean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

BAY\nOF BENGAL AS WAR ZONE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the coming\nyears, Indian Ocean region is likely to become the scene of power assertion,\nsaid Colonel Hariharan in 2010. Indian Ocean is now a heavily militarized ocean said Jayanath\nColombage in 2020.At any given time there are about 120 warships. From 2008 to\n2020, 575 warships from 29 different countries have visited Sri Lanka,\nsometimes more than one ship a week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bay\nof Bengal is now becoming a theatre of war    and Sri Lanka will\nbe at the centre, speculated analysts.  In 2016, the media carried a cartoon of USA,\nUK, India and China warships converging on Sri Lanka. US set up its Pivot to\nAsia\u201d policy in 2011.  US is really\ngoing to do Asia\u201d announced an analyst cheerfully. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

US\nhas developed the \u2018Strategic island bases strategy   for its\nwar in the Bay of Bengal. The Indian newspaper, Statesman <\/em>reported that US plans to  use facilities in the Andaman Islands, the\nComoros, the Maldives, Mauritius, Reunion, and the Seychelles (some of which\nare run directly or indirectly by France and India), as well as  use its defense agreements with Brunei,\nMalaysia, and Singapore. Maldives and the US signed a Defence Agreement in 2020\nto deepen engagement and cooperation in support of maintaining peace and\nsecurity in the Indian Ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The small island states, lying\nbelow Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean have  \nbecome important as logistics facilities. US and China are competing for\naccess to these logistic facilities. French, US,\nItalian and Japanese forces have permanent military bases In Djibouti. <\/strong>China joined them and set up\na base in Djibouti in 2017.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\n \n Djibouti<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India has\nbeen given the task of establishing military links with the nearby islands, on\nbehalf of USA. In Madagascar, India is building a new jetty and an airport\ncosting USD 90- million, at the two Agalega Islands off the northeastern coast\nof Madagascar. These are\nabout 1,000 kilometers north of Mauritius. There was a small protest movement\nagainst this, but it was squashed. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

India also\napproached the Seychelles in 2020, with a proposal to build a military facility\non Assumption Island, which will include an airstrip, naval jetty and a\ngarrison of 500. There was a\nstrong protest against it  and the proposal was abandoned. China\nhowever, has a presence in Seychelles. China has built a new Parliament\nbuilding and a Supreme Court in the Seychelles. China has\nalso\ndonated two light aircraft and two naval vessels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mauritius is\nnow becoming strategically important. Britain will soon be handing over the\nChagos islands to Mauritius and Mauritius can then decide to let US maintain\nthe military base in Diego Garcia.  If Mauritius\nagrees to this, it will then be made an associate of the Quad. This will give\nMauritius significant clout in Indian Ocean affairs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mauritius will\nhave the largest area of an Extended Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Indian Ocean\nand have islands dotted from southeast Africa to Central Indian Ocean., said\nanalysts. They did not say how. The Secretariats of Indian Ocean Rim\nassociation (IORA) and the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) are already located\nin   the capital of Mauritius, Port\nLouis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

India has a\nspecial relationship with Mauritius. 70% of the population of Mauritius is   of Indian origin and they hold the political\nand administrative power in Mauritius. In 2018 Mauritius was the second largest\nFDI contributor to India. In 2019, Mauritius has become the fourth largest FDI\ncontributor with the US and Singapore leading in FDI flows to India. These\nfunds are primarily from offshore companies taking advantage of tax benefits in\nMauritius. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mauritius is\nanti-Sri Lanka. Mauritius sponsored the resolution against Sri Lanka at the UN\nHuman Rights Council together with the United States. It also boycotted the\nCommonwealth Heads of Government summit in Colombo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is\npossible that Mauritius will overtake Sri Lanka in geostrategic importance. Rising\nMauritius\u201d could offer strategic outposts for naval and military purposes\nacross Indian Ocean. That would\nsee a lowering in Sri Lanka\u2019s own geographic position from a strategic\nstandpoint though it will remain an important port for shipping, said analysts.\nSri Lanka may welcome this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

QUAD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The four Quad\ncountries, US, India, Australia and Japan, held their first ministerial meeting\nin September 2019 in New York.\u201d The four countries held joint exercises, for\nthe first time, in the 2020 Malabar exercises in the Bay of Bengal.  Indian and Japanese warships had   also\ncarried out a small exercise near the Malacca Strait in June 2020. A US carrier\nstrike group led by aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was set to conduct an exercise\nwith Indian warships near the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago in July 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japan joins\nthe five eyes intelligence-sharing network in 2021.  This will further strengthen the US-Japan link.\nThe US created a five eyes spying arrangement with UK, Canada, Australia and\nNew Zealand. Intelligence agents of these five\ncountries work together. Each member\nspies on specified countries.Indonesia was allotted to Australia   and Australia\nspied on Indonesia from its embassy in Djakarta.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

US takes the view that the Quad is a powerful entity. US said that\nat the Quad meeting in Tokyo October 2020 in all agreed on the shared threat\nfrom China and will work together on the economic front against Beijing.  \nAnalysts reporting on the meeting are not so sure. Bolstering Quad to contain\nChina remains a sensitive issue for the three countries due to their strong\neconomic ties with Beijing, said reporters.  India, Japan and Australia avoided calling out\nChina directly.\u201d Few concrete takeaways emerged from the talks.   The possibility of Quad computer security\narchitecture is remote,  they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China has recently\nprovoked Australia. China has drawn attention to war crimes by Australian Special\nForces against Afghan prisoners and 39 civilians including children while\nserving in Afghanistan between 2009-2013. China broadcast a clip where\nAustralian soldiers slit the throats of two Afghan boys, put the bodies in a\nbag and throw into a river. Australia demanded an apology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is however unlikely that there will be a direct war in the\nIndian Ocean between USA and China. China does not plan to come all the way to\nthe Indian Ocean to fight America. The days when wars were fought while bobbing\nup and down in boats on the sea are also now over. China plans to bomb America\ndirect, aiming over the Pacific Ocean to do so. It has created a missile called\nDong\u201d something, which can attack six places in USA in one go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former United\nStates Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger fears the oncoming war. He does\nnot think USA will win and he does not think it a good idea for US to start a\nwar.  He thinks US warmongering should\nstop immediately. Kissinger said in 2020, that US should move quickly to\nrestore lines of communication with China. US and China should jointly create a\nnegotiating group where some leader that the US President trusts and some\nChinese leader that President Xi trusts remain in contact with each other on\nbehalf of their Presidents,\u201d Kissinger concluded. (Continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Indian Ocean is the third-largest ocean in the world. It is 70,560,000 km2 (27,240,000 sq mi) in extent. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west, Australia to the east and Antarctica to the south. The Arabian Sea, the Laccadive Sea, the Somali Sea, Bay of Bengal, and the Andaman Sea […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110708\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}