{"id":117602,"date":"2021-08-29T15:59:16","date_gmt":"2021-08-29T22:59:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=117602"},"modified":"2021-08-29T15:59:16","modified_gmt":"2021-08-29T22:59:16","slug":"pakistan-sri-lanka-ties-a-game-changer-in-the-region","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/08\/29\/pakistan-sri-lanka-ties-a-game-changer-in-the-region\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan-Sri Lanka Ties: A Game Changer in the Region?"},"content":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan,<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Source:\nTribune Express<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pakistan’s\nPrime Minister Imran Khan visited Sri Lanka on February 23 and 24 at the\ninvitation of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. This is his first\nvisit to Lanka after coming to power. He said, \u2018I go to cricket after finishing\nmy studies, and you (Mahinda Rajapaksa) travel to the field of politics.\u2019 The\ntour has created tension in the subcontinent even before the tour. Khan’s visit\ntook on a new dimension as India’s relations with Sri Lanka deteriorated after\nthe recent cancellation of an agreement with India to build a container\nterminal at the port of Colombo. Sri Lanka has signed an agreement with India\nand Japan to set up a terminal on the eastern edge of the Colombo port in 2019.\nUnder this, 49 per cent of the terminal would be owned by India and Japan and\nthe remaining 51 per cent by Sri Lanka. The government was forced to cancel the\nagreement as 23 trade unions, opposition parties and the general public opposed\nit. Anandabazar opined that Sri Lanka’s decision was a diplomatic blow to Delhi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imran\nKhan’s visit has given more importance to informal and ancillary issues than\nformal agreements and has played a significant role in the politics of the\nsubcontinent. For example, Mr. Khan’s visit ended the cremation of Muslims in\nSri Lanka in the Covid epidemic, and the ceremony began with the recitation of\nthe Qur’an at the airport, a rare event in Sri Lankan history, Providing\nspecial tourism facilities for Buddhists to visit Buddhist sites in Pakistan,\nPakistan’s support for Sri Lankan membership in the UN human rights body,\ninitiation of Muslim-Buddhist harmony, import-export of new products, expansion\nof Sri Lankan tea market in Pakistan, Sri Lanka trade with Pakistan through\nCentral Asia. The creation and expansion of the sporting goods market is the\nfruit of this visit. The re-establishment of the coexistence and sympathy of\nMuslim and Sinhalese Buddhists instead of the anti-Muslim activities that have\nplagued social life over the long-running Easter Sunday incident. The image of\nthe Prime Ministers of both the countries has been brightened and elevated as a\nresult of this visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former\nUS Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also tried his best to maintain good\nrelations with Sri Lanka and join the Quad. In particular, when China began\nleasing the port of Hambantota to Sri Lanka for 99 years, India embarked on a\nsimilar project; Japan also joined with new technology. Imran Khan’s visit has\nchanged the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean in the context of the Sri Lankan\ntug of war between China and Quad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nday after Imran Khan’s return at the end of the tour, on February 25, 2021,\nalmost 11 months later, the Sri Lankan government issued an emergency gazette\nrepealing the provision of mandatory cremation. This is benefiting both the\nMuslim and Christian minority communities. No one from the world body, including\nthe OIC, the Arab League or any human rights commission, has been able to\naddress this issue outside of Islamic faith and Sharia. During Imran Khan’s\ntwo-day visit, the Sri Lankan authorities resolved the issue amicably. At the\nsame time, Imran Khan was remembered by Sri Lankan Muslims. If Sri Lanka is to\nstand tall in the world, it is the social ties of different nationalities,\ndifferent religions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\nMr. Imran’s visit, the two states signed the five agreements such as: 1.\nCooperation in the tourism sector; 2. Increase relations and cooperation\nbetween the investment boards of both countries; 3. Relations and collaboration\nof the International Center for Chemical and Biology in Karachi in Pakistan\nwith the Industrial Technology Institute of Sri Lanka; 4. Relations and\ncooperation between the Industrial Institute of Industrial Technology of Sri\nLanka and A university in Islamabad and 5. Agreement on the relationship of the\nLahore School of Economics with the University of Colombo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nFebruary 24, Imran Khan invited the Sri Lankan business community to speak\nopenly; He spoke of investing in Pakistan and increasing trade connectivity. In\nparticular, he announced Pakistan’s full cooperation in expanding Sri Lanka’s\ntrade with Central Asian countries. He said the connection from Gwadar to\nCentral Asian countries and the CEPC could open new doors for Sri Lanka. It\nwill play a helpful role in alleviating poverty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nadded that both countries are victims of terrorism. Pakistan has suffered for\nthe last 10 years and Sri Lanka for 30 years. Now we have to cross the\ndevelopment ladder. Mr Khan said, “The tourism sector in Sri Lanka and\nPakistan is very rich and needs to be utilized.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nmentioned, \u2018There are many historical sites of Buddhists in Pakistan. Buddhists\nin Sri Lanka can visit them. If necessary, their facilities will be increased.\n‘ He said the excavation work in Gandhara was unfinished. A 40-foot-tall\nsleeping statue of Gautam Buddha has been found during excavations, which will\ncreate a new attraction for Buddhists. Earlier, Pakistan created Kartarpur\nGurudwara for the Sikhs and the world was happy with the Sikh community. There\nare many historical sites of Buddhists in Pakistan. Buddhists in Sri Lanka can\nvisit them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towards\nthe end of his visit, Imran Khan announced a 50 million ‘military credit\nfacility’ to Sri Lanka. Note that Pakistan’s military relations with Sri Lanka\nare old. After independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan established good\nrelations with Sri Lanka. Pakistan can play an important role if there is a\nChina-Sri Lanka-Pakistan alliance bypassing the quad. So, this tour was Imran\nKhan’s tactical and successful tour. One crop of political victory. Pakistan\nprovided assistance Sri Lanka militarily in Sri Lanka\u2019s civil war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime\nMinister Imran Khan has used ‘sports diplomacy’ in this visit. He has spoken in\ninteractive sessions with the sports community. Mr Khan praised the Sri Lankan\ncricket team and said it was a matter of joy for both the countries that Sri\nLanka had won the World Cup in Lahore on Pakistani soil. Addressing the\ncricketers, he said, “If you are scared, you will lose.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri\nLanka announced the construction of ‘Imran Khan High Performance Sports Center’\nin Colombo. Mr Khan has announced a 52 million US dollars sports equipment and\ntraining package in Sri Lanka. It is worth mentioning here that Sialkot in\nPakistan produces high quality sports goods in the subcontinent which is also\nappreciated in the world market. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ntwo countries also pledged to work together on security, terrorism and\norganized crime, as well as drug trafficking. That is why the two countries are\naccelerating the exchange of intelligence. At a time when Sri Lanka is under\ninternational pressure over human rights, class discrimination, war crimes,\nPakistan’s support in the international arena or China’s support is very\nimportant. In the context of the visit, it is seen that if the UN makes any\npreparations on Tamil war crimes, there is a possibility of veto of China and\nRussia. Imran’s visit is therefore very important diplomatically. Both the\nleaders felt that the SAARC countries should play a stronger role as per the\nSAARC Charter. The concept of SAARC is important for regional unity and\ndevelopment. Mr Khan emphasized the need for regional connectivity (CPEC). He\nsaid it was China’s BRI flagship project in Pakistan and a landmark step\ntowards regional economic development and prosperity. He called on Sri Lanka to\njoin the project and promised to provide necessary financial and technical\nassistance. This tie can be a game changer in Whole South Asian Region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writer:\nMD Pathik Hasan, Dhaka based NGO activist, researcher and freelance writer\nparticularly on current international issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MD Pathik Hasan, Source: Tribune Express Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Sri Lanka on February 23 and 24 at the invitation of Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. This is his first visit to Lanka after coming to power. He said, \u2018I go to cricket after finishing my studies, and you (Mahinda Rajapaksa) travel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-md-pathik-hasan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117602","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=117602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}