{"id":66320,"date":"2017-05-21T22:11:53","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T04:11:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=66320"},"modified":"2017-05-21T14:55:46","modified_gmt":"2017-05-21T21:55:46","slug":"yahapalana-and-india-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2017\/05\/21\/yahapalana-and-india-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"YAHAPALANA AND INDIA\u00a0\u00a0 Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The Free Trade agreement with India, like everything else with India,\u00a0 \u00a0has also caused a rumpus. The first India-Sri Lanka FTA (ISLFTA) was signed in November 1998 with just 4 consultations within 4 months. It became effective in 2000\u00a0\u00a0 and has been continuing ever since. In 2017 it was observed that \u00a0\u00a0the FTA has been in operation for 15 years but without any tangible benefit to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Bilateral trade agreements\u00a0 are expected to provide favored trading status, expanded access to each other\u2019s markets, purchase guarantees, and removal of\u00a0 tariffs,. But with India it was not so. The FTA helped India not Sri Lanka.\u00a0 The Chambers of Commerce in Sri Lanka observed that the FTA did not come up to expectation even after a decade.<\/p>\n

In 2007, exports from India to Sri Lanka amounted to USD 2784 million, exports were USD 516 million. Records from 2003-2009 showed that India\u2019s exports to Sri Lanka were up and Sri Lanka exports to India were down. Between 2007-2009 Sri Lanka exports to India declined from USD 515 million in 2007 to USD 324 million in 2009. \u00a0\u2018If not for the controls imposed by Sri Lanka the local market would have been flooded with cheap Indian goods,\u2019<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2018s industrial sector has not benefited by the FTA although there is much talk about the entry into the vast Indian market, observed critics. Sri Lanka finds it hard to compete in India. Sri Lanka does not have industries that can match the scale of Indian production. Indian factories are huge and the scale of operations is gigantic. The cost of production in India is less than in Sri Lanka. \u2018Our cost of production and domestic price are higher.\u2019 Also Indian businesses are heavily subsidized. Large Indian conglomerates can sustain a price war. They can smother competition without feeling it.\u00a0 Sri Lanka exporters, on the whole, are not interested in the Indian market. \u2018India is too a big market for us, elsewhere is better, \u2018they said. \u00a0\u2018Our exports go elsewhere, not to India\u2019.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka has only a limited number of items that can be exported such as tea, rubber products, spices, and garments. Under the India-Sri Lanka FTA, limitations were imposed on these and \u2018we were asked to export other things\u2019. \u00a0\u00a0\u2018India loyalists\u2019 pointed out that India had granted concession to Sri Lanka for 4000 products, but only a fraction of these were exported. Exporters replied that FTA has a huge list of duty exempt goods, certainly, but these consist of items like aircraft engines, ships and so on which are not produced in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

The bulk of Sri Lankan exports to India were outside the FTA but there was considerable obstruction to those exports that did come under the FTA. There is a long list of complaints. These complaints indicate that there is an organized campaign in India to harass and discourage Sri Lanka exports. \u2018There is special antagonism towards Sri Lanka goods\u2019, said exporters. There was red tape and bureaucratic delays.<\/p>\n

Sri Lankan products entitled to concessions were rejected, complained exporters.\u00a0 Strict quotas were imposed on Sri Lankan exports. There were stringent rules on product origin criteria. Certificate of origin has to be certified by the Sri Lanka High Commission. The goods usually arrived prior to the documents but could not be cleared without this vital document.<\/p>\n

Documents are asked for by Indian authorities which are not specified in the FTA and furthermore, when documents are submitted which are in accordance with the FTA, the officials say that these are not the proper documents and request for other documents. Different ports in India classified goods under different duties. \u00a0\u00a0Different ports demand different documentation and this led to\u00a0 considerable delays in shipping and logistics \u00a0Different local organizations in India had different standards and quality requirements for imported products.<\/p>\n

The exporter also had to face many Non Tariff measures (NTM) which were outside the scope of the Agreement. There is no end to the long list of non-tariff barriers that confront Sri Lanka goods, complained exporter. There are concealed state as well as federal government trade regulations, lots of \u2018fine print\u2019 and \u2018invisible\u2019 obstructionist measures. Indian exporters to Sri Lanka do not face any Non Tariff Barriers when they export their goods to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

When goods on the Open General License arrived in India, the importer is told that Special Import License is required. The licence for non vegetarian food stuffs had to be issued by the Ministry of Agriculture in Delhi. Certification by Sri Lanka Standard Institute was not accepted, despite reciprocal recognition of Indian certificate. These delayed cargo clearance, especially of perishables.<\/p>\n

Even when the goods were accompanied by the necessary certificates, the Indian authorities insisted that further tests to be carried out in India. Exporters complained about excessive time taken for product testing. Laboratory testing of perishable exports, often took 5 days, with higher Indian food standard requirements than Japan or the EU. There was excessive spot testing of even garments.<\/p>\n

Checking of edible items is done by laboratories situated a distance away. Imports into Chennai are sent to CFTRI Mysore, and imports into Mumbai are sent to CFTRI Pune. \u00a0If sausages are exported, the goods have to be examined in Delhi and the container sent will have to be in the harbor for four or five days.\u00a0 These led to delays, sometimes well over four weeks. And the consignment incurred demurrage and product deterioration.<\/p>\n

There is harassment at Customs, very visible at Chennai. When there is no customs duty payable, other duties are presented. The exporter, due to time and cost pays this amount under protest. In addition to central government taxes, each state also has special taxes.\u00a0 \u00a0Kerala taxes the tea packaging and the tea tags too. Tea Board, India has to approve the imports. There are delays in customs clearing of cargo,<\/p>\n

Other issues faced by Sri Lankan exporters at the Indian end, included Ignorance of Indian customs officials of FTA concessions for product categories.\u00a0 \u00a0Complexity and difficulties in obtaining information on new regulations, especially by SME exporters, regarding say, recent new food safety regulations. \u00a0Absence of an Indian agency or \u2018help desk\u2019 to resolve problems like the above, where a quick response is critical due to ensuing high costs from delays, negating FTA benefits and discouraging Sri Lankan exporters. \u00a0Also exporters needed to make informal payments to oil the machine. \u00a0There are a myriad other loopholes and bottlenecks experienced by Sri Lankan exporters to India, especially SMEs, said exporters.<\/p>\n

The head of Ceylon Biscuits observed that those who worked with India had sad tales to relate. Ceylon Biscuits was blacklisted at Chennai \u2018claiming that we were under invoicing\u2019 .A regular exporter of floor tiles was suddenly called on to pay duty as customs challenged the validity of the HS classification. The exporter got redress after a long drawn out court case and great expense. In marble and granite a minimum floor price was imposed to hurt Sri Lanka exports. \u00a0In the case of fresh fruit and tea, there was excessive time for lab tests.<\/p>\n

This FTA is still in effect in Sri Lanka and in 2017 critics noted that while India has imposed various product specifications on Sri Lanka,\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018we don\u2019t have any product specifications for Indian goods, which is why Maruti cars are imported into Sri Lanka on a large scale even though they are not exported to any other country.\u2019 Inferior motor vehicles made in India such as the \u2018Alto\u2019 brand, not marketed anywhere else in the world, are also imported.<\/p>\n

In 2002, Sri Lanka and India agreed to replace the existing India Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement with a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). \u00a0When CEPA negotiations took place in 2005, the only persons who represented Sri Lanka were government officials, non-government persons were left out, complained exporters. CEPA was originally scheduled to be signed in 2008 during the SAARC summit. No one had seen the agreement. \u00a0At the eleventh hour, CEPA was shot down by angry business men, very critical of India.\u00a0 \u2018A secret copy came into the hands of a few people who stopped it.\u2019\u00a0 President Rajapakse then decided not to sign it, despite considerable Indian pressure to do so.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s business sector said \u2018No\u2019 to CEPA very firmly. Business concerns, such as Maubima Lanka opposed CEPA. India is not a level playing field and the local manufacturers will get hurt, the business sector said. India has not treated Sri Lanka businesses kindly. Exporters cited their experiences with the earlier FTA. India harasses the Sri Lanka exporter. Sri Lanka exports face numerous non-tariff barriers, port restrictions, customs delays and cumbersome laboratory tests. Documents not specified in the FTA are asked for.\u00a0 Documents in accordance with the FTA are rejected by the Indian officials who say that they are not the proper documents and ask for additional documents, exporters said.<\/p>\n

Trade in goods was still bleak. The volume of bilateral trade, which stood at USD 4.6 billion in 2014, was heavily in favor of India. Sri Lanka share was USD 600 million. Sri Lanka\u2019s small size and inability to produce items in required numbers to meet the demand of the huge Indian market was one factor.<\/p>\n

India had asked Sri Lanka to sign the agreement first, the schedules can come later.\u00a0 No, said exporters, we must not sign CEPA in a hurry.\u00a0 We must avoid signing an open-ended framework agreement. \u00a0We must include the schedules at least as drafts and bring in conditions preventing additions of any schedules outside the discussed areas as in India-Singapore agreement. In the India-Singapore CEPA all the schedules are very clearly attached.<\/p>\n

We must sign CEPA only after we ensure that it will be in our interests to do so, continued exporters. We must first address all the key issues that are hindering our exports. \u00a0We must have the necessary domestic legislation for incoming imports and have a patriotic committed negotiating team that should match if not better, the Indian team.\u00a0 Once agreed to, the agreement cannot be reversed. It is a bilateral agreement so there is no court to which we can go either.\u00a0 If we change terms heavy penalties, including compensation, have to be paid.<\/p>\n

Critics noted that CEPA is pushed by India not Sri Lanka. \u00a0India is actively pursuing this, critics observed. India has already established its industries in Sri Lanka. Indian business houses and their businesses thrive in Sri Lanka. They get subsidized energy.\u00a0\u00a0 The Sri Lanka market is too small to attract India, anyway, so why is India so keen on CEPA? Answer, to get control of Sri Lanka. \u00a0Sri Lanka is strategically important.\u00a0 India cannot easily control Sri Lanka militarily, so it is best to try to control it through its economy. CEPA was intended to tie Sri Lanka\u2019s economy firmly to that of India.<\/p>\n

\u2018India Loyalists\u2019 however, said that CEPA will help domestic industries. . There is going to be an increase in consumer demand in India and Sri Lanka can tap into this. There is a limit to how much an industry can provide for a small market such as Sri Lanka with 20 million, India population is over a billion, the scope and potential is endless. Sri Lanka industries can also expand to newer manufacturing sectors. The charge that Sri Lanka domestic industries would be affected by the influx of cheaper Indian goods was dismissed as \u2018protectionism.\u2019 \u00a0\u00a0\u2018India Loyalists\u2019 said that there are safeguards in place.<\/p>\n

\u2018India Loyalists\u2019 said that the Indian firms like CEAT and Piramal have taken over sick units in Sri Lanka and turned them around. They said Lanka IOC, was a notable achievement, which has revolutionized the petroleum sector. LIOC has plans for further expansion. Bhareti Airtel has led to a drastic reduction in mobile call rates.\u00a0\u00a0 Finally, that Ceylon Biscuits, Carson Cumberbatch, Brandix, John Keells, Hayleys, and the Aitken Spence hotels have done well in India.<\/p>\n

Pathfinder Foundation defended CEPA.\u00a0 Pathfinder said that the charge that due to the asymmetry of the two economies CEPA would inevitably be detrimental to Sri Lanka is not\u00a0\u00a0 correct. There were provisions in the agreements as safeguards.\u00a0 And we have trade negotiators to handle this.\u00a0 India has trade agreements with countries that are less developed than Sri Lanka. If they can why not Sri Lanka.\u00a0 CEPA can offer benefits to Sri Lanka of getting into bigger markets.<\/p>\n

The persons urging CEPA within Sri Lanka appear to be \u00a0\u2018non-business\u2019 men, \u00a0particularly economists, including certain named economists. These persons do not have businesses to export to India, but are urging business men to support CEPA. Exporters charged that these economists were disinterested in the welfare of local business. \u00a0I attended a discussion on CEPA, where the economists held forth, not letting anybody else speak, except a high official of the Department of Commerce, who defended CEPA.\u00a0 The exporters, who had come to speak of their experiences with India, left in disgust.<\/p>\n

CEPA included not only goods, but also professional services, investment and free moment of persons. The reserved list for Sri Lanka was only pawn broking, small and medium industries below one million, and coastal fishing, not deep sea fishing. Opponents of CEPA had much to say about this.<\/p>\n

This means that Indians can come and start state trading organizations here and repatriate profits abroad. If they start industries here, they will kill the local ones by undercutting for a few years, and then they will start to increase prices.\u00a0\u00a0 Existing Sri Lanka companies will also then have to raise their prices. No foreign exchange will come in, it will only go out, they declared.<\/p>\n

If CEPA goes through Sri Lanka will be swamped by Indian labor in all spheres of work, professional, skilled, and semi skilled. Under CEPA India can bring down technical staff\u00a0 from 10% of total staff cadre up to\u00a0\u00a0 50% Through this, India will be able to bring all\u00a0 their technical staff from India.<\/p>\n

That was not all. Any Indian can bring his family into Sri Lanka and they can work anywhere they want. Family alone can take up about 5 jobs. There are some 56 million unemployed in India compared to Sri Lanka\u2019s 470,000. So they will come in droves for lesser salaries, while Sri Lankans, whose standard of living is higher, will not easily, go to India. Under CEPA there is no \u2018business visa\u2019 so there is no time limit for the stay either.<\/p>\n

Our culture will also be affected, noted critics. According to CEPA there will be 50% Indian ownership of 25 cinemas, each of which could hold multiple cinema halls.\u00a0 In these cinemas, 40% cinema time would be for Tamil and Hindi films. Film makers when alerted objected.<\/p>\n

The professions also objected to CEPA. CEPA was most undesirable, they said. India\u2019s professional standards are different to ours. Engineers said that there are many unemployed engineers in India who will flood Sri Lanka through CEPA.\u00a0 India\u2019s degree for engineering is only three years, ours is four years.<\/p>\n

In health and medicine, India was\u00a0\u00a0 asking Sri Lanka to recognize the qualifications of Indian doctors.\u00a0 30 or so categories of paramedical professionals were also included in the CEPA.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0CEPA\u00a0 could also be\u00a0 used to bypass a number of health laws including those associated with quality control (CDDA no 27 of 1980)and the monitoring of the private health sector ( PMIR no 21 of 2006).\u00a0\u00a0 Sri Lanka regulatory bodies are weak, stressed the professionals, and if we open up the service sector without regulation Sri Lanka will be swallowed up by Indian companies and services.<\/p>\n

Yahapalana government of 2015 announced that they will not sign CEPA but will enter in to an Economic\/Technical Co-operation Framework Agreement (ETCFA) with India. This ECTA was drafted in great secrecy. The agreement was not made public and an attempt was made to sign it quickly. But this too was stopped. This time by the professionals, led by architects, engineers and doctors.<\/p>\n

The agreement was poorly drafted, observed critics. It had \u2018many irreversible loopholes\u2019 that will trap Sri Lanka into a \u2018helpless situation.\u2019 The clauses are vague and open ended, such as \u2018shall include but shall not be limited to\u2019. Opponents of ECTA questioned whether it had been properly negotiated.\u00a0 Also the competence of those drafting it. .<\/p>\n

ECTA\u00a0\u00a0 they said was CEPA all over again in a more virulent form. Something akin to match fixing was\u00a0\u00a0 going on, they declared. Even the people who were supposed to represent Sri Lanka were actually representing the other side.<\/strong> ECTA is not about trade, it is about politics, they concluded. ECTA is intended to please India.<\/p>\n

ECTA involved goods, professional services, investment and free movement of persons. Analysts were not surprised. \u2018What India really wants is to get at Sri Lanka\u2018s goods and services,\u2019 they said. In ECTA as in CEPA, India had opened up only few jobs to outsiders but Sri Lanka had opened up all sectors except a few unimportant ones. All services and trades were open to India except pawn broking, money lending, small time retails trade, personal services and coastal fishing. GATS guidelines specified that after a country had agreed to open up specific sectors, they cannot thereafter apply any new licensing and qualification requirements to those professions.\u00a0 That is prohibited. it is reliably learned that the Indian side have requested that the laws relating to\u00a0 registering professional not be changed after signing ECT framework agreements, which is a preliminary to the proper ECTA.<\/p>\n

But the\u00a0 main concern in ECTA\u00a0 was about the \u2018movement of\u00a0 persons \u2018\u00a0 from India into Sri Lanka \u00a0for trade and services,\u00a0 using Modes 3 and 4 of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (WTO 1995). Governments are generally reluctant to\u00a0 include modes 3 and 4\u00a0 in trade agreements, because GATS commitments are one-way and cannot be\u00a0 withdrawn once entered into.<\/p>\n

Mode\u00a0 3\u00a0 gives the foreign supplier the right to be present in the \u00a0country and Mode 4 says the\u00a0 foreign supplier can be represented by a natural person. This is supposed to be only temporary, for the duration of the contract. But GAT does not define \u2018temporary\u2019. WTO members are free to interpret the term as they wish, and to set varying definitions for different categories of service providers. \u00a0Sri Lanka professionals observed that persons could\u00a0 come in on\u00a0 Mode 3 \u00a0also, through companies.<\/p>\n

Using Mode 3 and 4, \u00a0Indians can come in and set up their own companies in Sri Lanka. They could for instance, set up their own tourist companies and Indian tourists will come to those. Also these companies can siphon off the clients from the local brands. Substandard Indian business will thrive in Sri Lanka\u00a0 and this in turn will result in a massive elimination of local SMRs and exporting companies and a great increase in Indian companies, commodities and employees in\u00a0 Sri Lanka .<\/p>\n

But what worried\u00a0 the professionals most was India flooding Sri Lanka with professionals and workers through \u00a0these two Modes.. The fear was mostly that this could lead to sub standard persons from India entering the Sri Lankan workforce. High unemployment pressure in India and lower salary expectation of Indian workers would make them seek job opportunities in Sri Lanka. Movement of persons will be one sided, India to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n

Unlike Sri Lanka , India \u00a0has carefully defined and limited the scope of movement of natural persons under Modes 3 and 4. Also \u00a0India has controls for all its professions. \u00a0\u00a0In architecture, there was Architects Act of 1972 and the Council of Architects. India\u00a0\u00a0 had a very sophisticated system of professional registration as well \u00a0\u00a0and no foreigner can practice there. Therefore \u00a0\u00a0Sri Lanka professionals cannot enter India.\u00a0 And if they try, India can do to them, what they are doing to the Sri Lanka exporters.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka unlike India, \u00a0has\u00a0 no legally empowered bodies which \u00a0require professionals to be registered with them. Only exceptions are Sri Lanka Medical Council and Institute of Chartered Accountants. Sri Lanka does not have a regulatory system in place for monitoring \u00a0its own professionals let alone any that arrive from India.\u00a0 Indian professionals will be able to flood Sri Lanka\u00a0 without any restrictions as there are no accrediting requirements at\u00a0 the Sri Lanka end, said professionals..<\/p>\n

Island-wide protests were initiated by diverse professional associations, political entities and businesses, to stop ECTA. A\u00a0 Professionals National Front, a consortium of a dozen professionals\u2019 associations,\u00a0 was formed to combat ECTA. It included among others, the Government Medical Officers\u2019 Association (GMOA), the Electrical Engineers\u2019 Association, the Customs Officers\u2019 Union and the National University Teachers\u2019 Association.<\/p>\n

This Association held a meeting at SLAAS to oppose ECTA. The auditorium was packed to capacity with standing room only at is first meeting. Five speakers, one after the other all rejected\u00a0 ECTA.\u00a0 The speakers said\u00a0 ECTA was detrimental to Sri Lanka.\u00a0 They drew attention to \u00a0the utterly weak regulatory framework in\u00a0 Sri Lanka . And said that\u00a0\u00a0 necessary safeguards must be provided for all\u00a0 professions before ECTA is signed.<\/p>\n

India plans to use ECTA, in the first instance to get into Sri Lanka\u2019s \u00a0Information Technology (IT)\u00a0\u00a0 and naval engineering sectors (dockyards). There is little discussion so far on shipyards and\u00a0\u00a0 naval engineering\u00a0 but clearly, India is interested in getting a\u00a0 foothold in \u00a0this \u00a0sector.<\/p>\n

Sri Lanka \u2018s IT sector is flourishing. \u00a0It is the strongest area of Sri Lanka \u2018s knowledge industry sector. Global Information Technology report for 2015, \u00a0ranks Sri Lanka \u00a0No 65 in Network Readiness Index.. The Network Readiness Index indicates how well an economy is poised to gain the benefits of ICT. \u00a0Sri Lanka is within the top ten countries from Asia and is the only south Asian country in the list. Sri Lanka is\u00a0 three places below China.<\/p>\n

India\u2019s position in Network Readiness has been declining\u00a0 India was ranked at\u00a0 89 in 2015. IT standards in India are not\u00a0 as high as in Sri Lanka and \u00a0\u00a0if India comes here the domestic IT \u00a0industry will \u00a0get weakened.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Through ECTA Indian IT persons will be able to arrive here even without being employed by a company and once in, will\u00a0 rank\u00a0 equal to the Sri Lanka IT\u00a0 personnel. Sri Lanka\u2019s standing in the world in IT will be affected. Since India has a high rate of unemployment, \u00a0Indian IT workers will \u00a0be prepared to work here for lesser wages \u00a0\u00a0and this will lower \u00a0salaries\u00a0 too.<\/p>\n

IT professionals have\u00a0\u00a0 mobilized against ECTA. The Society of Information Technology professionals \u00a0of Sri Lanka (SITP) warned government against signing ECTA. They say the pact will be very harmful to Sri Lanka. They said at a press conference that they would everything possible to prevent government from going ahead with this.\u00a0 A large number of Sri Lanka processionals will be unemployed if this is signed.<\/p>\n

The Computer Society of Sri Lanka\u00a0\u00a0 (CSSL)urged the government to ensure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 safeguards to protect the IT professionals of Sri Lanka. The speakers said that it is not true that there is dearth of IT professionals in Sri Lanka.\u00a0 We have enough to meet the demand now and \u00a0for the next several years. Why was IT selected as a service that India could provide?\u00a0 If ECTA comes then IT wages will be reduced, as cheaper labor will come from India, it will also tarnish Sri Lanka image as a centre of excellence and Sri Lanka will lose its state as a niche software developer centre for investors.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0 Indian IT persons\u00a0 are allowed to come, their qualifications must be checked and\u00a0 limited period visas issued. Also they must get CSSL membership.\u00a0 Working visas must be linked to a\u00a0 letter from a\u00a0 Sri Lanka company\u00a0 and\u00a0 visa must be linked to that company . The\u00a0 company must be incorporated in Sri Lanka.\u00a0 They must first try to recruit locally.\u00a0\u00a0 There must be a minimum level of Sri Lanka employees in the company. \u2018That must be set down\u2019.\u00a0 The foreign nationals must pay tax to\u00a0 Inland Revenue here,\u00a0 also Sri Lanka must prevent \u00a0IT freelancers coming \u00a0in. \u00a0( continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The Free Trade agreement with India, like everything else with India,\u00a0 \u00a0has also caused a rumpus. The first India-Sri Lanka FTA (ISLFTA) was signed in November 1998 with just 4 consultations within 4 months. It became effective in 2000\u00a0\u00a0 and has been continuing ever since. In 2017 it was observed that \u00a0\u00a0the FTA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66320","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\/66320","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=66320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}