Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and several other leaders in the region for the inaugural of his second five-year term highlighting the ‘neighbourhood first’ policy of the government.
Indo-Lanka relations are at a high now, despite New Delhi’s reservations about Sri Lanka’s close economic relationship with China on one hand and the increasing military ties with the United States on the other.
Modi government’s policy viz-a-viz Sri Lanka today is quite contrasted to the June 1987 episodes of sending a flotilla of boats carrying food to Jaffna and when it was blocked by the Sri Lanka Navy, sending aircraft to drop food to Jaffna Peninsula violating the air space of sovereign Sri Lanka. It was a blatant violation of Sri Lankan air space and the aircrafts carrying food and a group of media personnel were accompanied by a squadron of MiG fighter jets.
New Delhi used those rough-arm tactics to bring down the J. R. Jayewardene regime to its knees for the ‘crime’ of establishing close ties with the US and allowing to set up an Israeli Interest Section at the American Embassy in Colombo. India perceived those actions as hostile because Indira Gandhi regime considered US and Israel as the leaders of an anti-Indian global movement. Indira Gandhi did not see either Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene or US President Richard Nixon as friends of India.
Premier Modi’s inauguration
However, since then much waters have passed through the River Ganges and River Kelani and today, Colombo and New Delhi have a good understanding of the geopolitics of the region. Internationally though, there is a perfect understanding among the world powers and regional powers. The US has accepted New Delhi’s role in the region and considers India as a sound economic partner.
Premier Modi’s inauguration on Thursday was attended by the leaders of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec). The analysts are of the view that Modi did not want to extend the invitation to the oldest regional grouping, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) because he did not want Pakistan to participate. However, Bimstec has a better fit with several key foreign policy initiatives of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government – the “neighbourhood first” policy, the Act East policy focused on India’s extended neighbourhood and the Indo-Pacific policy.
In addition to BIMSTEC, those who attended yesterday’s ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi included Kyrgyzstan President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, the current chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, the leader of Pravasi Bharatiya (Indians abroad) Divas.
While President Maithripala Sirisena, Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering and Myanmar President Win Myint attended Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina could not attend as she was on a three-nation visit to Japan, Saudi Arabia and Finland.
In the past, especially during the respective regimes of J. R. Jayewardene and Ranasinghe Premadasa and Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, New Delhi’s Sri Lanka policy rallied around Tamil Nadu sentiments on Sri Lankan ethnic issue. That led to Indira Gandhi giving green light to intelligence services to arm and train Tamil militants and finally Rajiv Gandhi’s infamous airdrop of ‘Parippu’ in June 1987, which ended with the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement on July 29, 1987.
As President Sirisena and Prime Minister Modi repeatedly reassured, the relations between the two countries are very strong and there is hardly any mistrust or suspicion. India seems to have accepted that the new found relationship with China is only an economic partnership and that could not be construed a threat to India’s national security.
The recent agreement between Sri Lanka, Japan and India to develop the new terminal of Colombo Port has further cemented the relationship with India.
Foreign policy decisions
However, Sri Lanka will have to be very careful not to antagonize India while shifting foreign policy decisions or entering into a new pact to replace Acquisition and Cross Services Agreement (ACSA) with the United States. Sri Lanka-US ACSA was first signed in 2007 as a 10-year pact.
Now, the US proposes to replace ACSA with a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The US says that these types of agreements are standard practice between global partners and the US, which has similar agreements with more than 100 other nations around the world. The US view is that these agreements facilitate training, exercises, and exchanges as mutually agreed and for the benefit of both countries.
The US has dismissed the fear that the US will be able to use the agreement to establish a military base in Sri Lanka. The US Embassy insisted that the agreement will not permit the US to establish a base in Sri Lanka or station troops in the country. The US says Sri Lanka will retain all its sovereign rights to approve or deny entry or exit of US personnel, vessels, and aircraft into Sri Lanka’s territory and territorial waters/airspace.
Currently, there is an acknowledgement in Washington with regard to India’s regional supremacy and its role in regional security and stability.
Americans have accepted India’s role in the security and stability of the Indian Ocean region. Furthermore, there is an understanding of the need for cooperation between India and the US to check rapidly expanding Chinese influence in this region. Hence, it is essential to keep India informed about Sri Lanka’s intended military cooperation with any outside country, especially with a superpower such as the US.
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