{"id":110792,"date":"2021-01-18T17:05:34","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T00:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=110792"},"modified":"2021-01-18T17:05:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-19T00:05:34","slug":"the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c9g","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/01\/18\/the-pohottuwa-government-of-sri-lanka-part-2-c9g\/","title":{"rendered":"THE POHOTTUWA GOVERNMENT OF SRI LANKA Part 2 C9g"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

India has\nsigned many military agreements with US and has cemented a firm military link\nwith USA.  In recognition of this, in\nDecember 2020 US President Trump presented Prime Minister Narendra Modi with\nAmerica’s highest military decoration, Legion of Merit. This is a\nrarely-awarded, prestigious decoration. It shows how highly US rates its link\nwith India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

US and India\nboth wish to contain China, but India does not intend to be a junior partner to\nUS. An ally of the US may be, but not a pawn, said analysts. India wishes to\nincrease her stature as the number one power in the region. However, by\ntaking a leadership role in the Quad, India has moved away from the basic\nprinciples of Panchaseela and Non-alignment, commented critics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

India wishes\nto continue its relationship with its former ally, Russia. In 2018 India had a\ndeal with Russia to purchase     S-400\nair defense system, ignoring US warning. \nIn September 2019 India signed an \u2018agreement on reciprocal logistical support\u201d\nwith Russia.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

India has its\nown military plans. In 2017 India obtained logistics facilities in Singapore\nfor Indian warships to refuel and get water in their operational\nturnaround.  Since 2018, India has been\ngiven logistics facilities at Nha Trang on the Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam. India is the\nonly country to receive this facility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But India\nwill not find it easy. India has failed to establish good relations with its\ntwo most powerful neighbors, China and Pakistan.   Instead India has angered both and now China\nand Pakistan are getting ready to   hit\nIndia. Pakistan is a formidable military power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be a\nsimple matter for Pakistan and China to join hands in attacking India. The\npossibility of collusion between these two military adversaries of India is\nhigh, said experts in 2020. In January 2021, Indian army stated that there was\na visible collusion between China and Pakistan and   it is now manifesting itself on the ground.  India\nis aware that Pakistan and China are sharing intelligence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they\nattack, China will grab a chunk of the north Indian border and Pakistan will\ntry to seize Kashmir, since Indian troops would be reduced in Kashmir.  India will have to face a two-and-a-half-\nfront- war, said experts, China in the north, Pakistan in the west, and a well\nplanned insurgency in Kashmir.  India\ncannot possibly win such a war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 India is completely unprepared for a two-front\nconflict, let alone a two-and-a-half front war, said India\u2019s military.  India\u2019s army is not large enough or well\nequipped. It will not be possible to move troops and resources from one front\nto another, either. However hard the Indian\narmy fights it will not be able to win against the combination of China and\nPakistan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

India must now hurry up and settle matters with either Pakistan or\nChina, said advisers. China is a bigger challenge than Pakistan so   it is best to approach China. But that will be difficult. The Chinese have\ngot a vision and a plan, admitted India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

China plans to challenge India on all possible fronts. In 2019,\nIndia revoked the limited autonomy granted to Jammu and Kashmir and turned them\ninto union territories of India. The Chinese Permanent Representative to the\nUnited Nations complained about this  in a closed-door informal session<\/a> of the U.N.\nSecurity Council saying that this affected the Ladakh border area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China increased its troops in\neastern Ladakh in 2020, enabling    \neyeball-to-eyeball confrontation in the future.   China has also massed troops 500 to 1,500 km\naway from the border. These troops could be brought to the border in 24 to 48\nhours, admitted India. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

China then suggested to India\nthat the eight mountainous spurs jutting out of the Sirijap range   in Ladakh be turned into a buffer zone.\nIndia refused, because that area is under India at present. India did not wish\nto cede control over territory presently patrolled by Indian Army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are\nongoing tensions between India and Pakistan as well. Ceasefire violations at\nthe Jammu-Kashmir border have increased significantly. There were 2,158\nceasefire violations by India in 2020. There has\nbeen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistani forces all along the\nborder in 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Pakistan\nhas started tunneling into Kashmir. India has detected two tunnels so far.  They are professionally constructed .The\nsecond tunnel is three-feet-wide and constructed at a depth of25 to 30 feet. Pakistan\nis sending infiltrators into Jammu and Kashmir, said India\u2019s military.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

India has not\nchanged its attitude towards Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka has not changed its\nattitude towards India. Sri Lanka does not trust India. Sri Lanka has not\nforgotten the \u2018parippu\u2019 drop. The current objection to giving the Eastern\nterminal of the Colombo port to the Adani  \ngroup is also anti-India.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

India wishes\nto gain control of Sri Lanka by making Sri Lanka dependant on India for its energy\nneeds.  India wishes to build an overhead\nelectricity link with Sri Lanka.  India\naims to have a regional power grid which will cater to Myanmar, Bhutan,\nBangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India has\nprovided assistance to Sri Lanka amounting to USD 3.5 billion in January 2021.\nThe bulk of this assistance is for the north, east and estate areas.   In 2021 India will help in renovation of 27\nschools in north, build 3200 sanitation units in Batticaloa and a temperature\ncontrolled warehouse at Dambulla. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indian\nForeign Minister, Dr. S. Jaishankar, had wanted to visit Sri Lanka in November\n2020, but Sri Lanka was unable to accommodate   the visit. Minister Jaishankar visited Sri\nLanka in January 2021. It was a hurriedly arranged visit, less than five days\u2019\nnotice was given to Colombo, said the media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaishankar\nmet with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, of course, but that was not all. Jaishankar\nmet UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa as\nwell. He invited Sajith to visit Delhi. He met Sri\nLanka business leaders and discussed trade opportunities. Then he met a\ndelegation from the TNA. TNA were delighted to meet him and gave him a copy of\nthe TNA\u2019s constitutional proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaishankar\nwas hosted to dinner at the Wijerama residence of Prime Minister Mahinda\nRajapaksa. The only minister to take part in the event was G.L. Peiris.\nConspicuous by his absence was Foreign Minister Gunawardena, said the media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaishankar\u2019s\nwhistle-stop visit to Colombo was prompted largely by New Delhi\u2019s concerns over\nChina\u2019s \u2018influence\u2019 in Indian projects, such as the proposed partnership to run\nthe East Container Terminal in the Colombo Port, said the media. .Jaishankar had\nalso specifically requested the Sri Lankan Government not to hand over the oil\ntank farm to anybody else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaishankar   clearly did not come to woo Sri Lanka. He\ncame to advise, meddle and instruct. Jaishankar said India supported\ndevolution, reconciliation, Provincial Councils and the 13th<\/sup> Amendment.\nThere was no direct response from Sri Lanka to this, observed the media.\nGovernment said that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is committed to the\nwellbeing progress and opportunities of all our citizens.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The intelligentsia however, responded. Even\nafter a lapse of 30 years and the removal of most of the major factors\nassociated with Tamil politics in India and Sri Lanka, India continues to see\nSri Lanka from the perspective of Tamil politics, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But India\nalso has its supporters in Sri Lanka. India has quietly but carefully been a\nmajor grant donor to Sri Lanka, especially in the task of postwar reconstruction,\nsaid Harim Pieris. The Sri Lankan Government railways beyond Omanthai, as well\nas rolling stock, the Palaly Airport development and indeed the 50,000 houses\nprogramme in the Central, Northern and Eastern Provinces, together with ADB\nfunded road reconstruction, have formed the core of postwar rebuilding in the\nformer war affected provinces of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is clearly\nan irritant to India, that with fast track and increasing Government approval\nfor China to pile on debt laden costly infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka of\nquestionable utility value, such as the Port City and the Lotus Tower, Indian\ninvestments on more mutually beneficial commercial terms, such as the Colombo\nPort\u2019s East Terminal development, are [getting] stalled, continued Harim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However,\ngeography, history and, most importantly, modern-day economic reality, means that\nSri Lanka needs to nurture and protect India, our closest and giant neighbour.\nSri Lanka, much more than India, stands to benefit from closer economic ties\nbetween the two neighbors, ideally establishing ourselves as a services,\nlogistics and knowledge hub for the giant economy next door, as well as a\nlow-cost entry point to the subcontinent\u2019s economy, concluded Harim Pieris. (continued)\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS India has signed many military agreements with US and has cemented a firm military link with USA.  In recognition of this, in December 2020 US President Trump presented Prime Minister Narendra Modi with America’s highest military decoration, Legion of Merit. This is a rarely-awarded, prestigious decoration. It shows how highly US rates its […]<\/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-110792","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\/110792","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=110792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110792\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}