Ties with Beijing won’t affect relations with India: Sri Lanka’s FM

INTERNATIONAL DESK: India-China rivalry is a factor that Sri Lanka has been accustomed to living with, and Colombo’s ties with Beijing do not in any way detract from the “special quality of the relationship” with New Delhi, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister GL Peiris said on Monday.

The minister, who is on a three-day visit to New Delhi, expressed his government’s appreciation for India’s financial assistance to help Sri Lanka cope with a serious economic crisis, and said the theme for his interactions here will be transforming India-Sri Lanka ties from a transactional relationship to a strategic one based on closer integration in key sectors such as energy, tourism and manufacturing.

GL Peiris said in an interview that the long-standing issue of devolution of greater powers to Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority is expected to be addressed by a new Constitution, currently being drafted by a committee of experts. Any solution to this issue has to be “implementable on the ground” and “backed up by national consensus”, he said.

Asked if Sri Lanka was concerned about being caught up in the rivalry between India and China, Peiris replied: “That is a fact of life in Indian and Pacific oceans. But it is by no means a new phenomenon. It’s something that we have been accustomed to living with for a long time. We do not get involved in the differences of opinion between and among countries, all of whom are our friends.”

He noted that Sri Lanka had derived “tangible benefits”, largely in terms of infrastructure development, from China’s Belt and Road Initiative, while Beijing has consistently backed Colombo at international forums, such as the UN Human Rights Council, on human rights not being used as a political tool for intervention in the domestic affairs of countries.

“So there has been consistency in that position, which has been a source of strength to us. However, none of that detracts from the special quality of the relationship between Sri Lanka and India. It is a special relationship, partly because of circumstances relating to history, geography, economy…we are tied together. That’s our fit, but we have developed that consciously and deliberately,” Peiris said.

Peiris said the overarching theme for his visit is the transformation of the India-Sri Lanka relationship. “That is it is no longer a transactional relationship, focusing on this transaction or that transaction. There have been many which have hit the headlines, like the Trincomalee oil tank farm [deal] and the West Container Terminal [deal]…Important as they are, that is not the sole or even the principal focus today,” he said.

“The principal focus is…the inherent quality of the relationship, which is being elevated to a completely different plane, a strategic partnership in every sector…So, if we are to develop Colombo and also Hambantota as a trans-shipment hub, a digital hub, a manufacturing and knowledge hub, for all of this integration with India is crucially important,” he said.

Peiris added, “So, the point I’m making is that it is mutually beneficial to contemplate a closer integration in all these sectors – oil, petroleum, gas, electricity, tourism, manufacturing, and most of all, people-to-people contact.”

He said the financial assistance provided by India in recent weeks – a $500- million revolving fund for purchase of fuel, the deferral of a payment of $515 million to the Asian Clearing Union and a Saarc currency swap of $400 million – had “helped immensely” to tide over a very difficult phase. “It is a very difficult time, probably the most difficult time that we have had since independence and the support of India is very greatly appreciated,” he added.

The two countries are finalising a $1-billion line of credit to be used for purchasing food and pharmaceutical products, and Sri Lanka’s finance minister Basil Rajapaksa is expected to make his second visit to India since December within the next two weeks to discuss these matters and finalise several agreements that are in the pipeline. Some of the agreements are in the defence sector, such as the purchase of two Dornier aircraft and the acquisition of a 4,000-tonne floating dock for Sri Lanka’s navy.

While the Indian side has pressed the Sri Lankan government to fully implement the 13th amendment to the island nation’s Constitution to give greater powers to the Tamil minority, Peiris indicated the matter is expected to be addressed through a “draft of a completely new Constitution” being prepared by an experts’ committee.

“After all, the present constitution was promulgated in 1978, almost half a century ago and devolution of power will no doubt be one of the matters that will be addressed in the context of that overall exercise,” he said.

“But I want to stress this – whatever is done, if it is to be implementable on the ground, will have to be backed up by a national consensus. There really has to be agreement, at least with regard to the basic contours…And that is the lesson to be learned from the negative experiences of the past – whatever one tries to do from the top and impose it on the rest of society, it simply does not work on the ground.”

Peiris also described frictions between the two sides over the detention of fishermen on charges of violating maritime boundaries as the “only real constant irritant in the relationship”. He added this issue is “really crying out for an early solution”.

He said, “We can’t leave it as it is. It is not a satisfactory approach to the situation simply to concentrate on what to do after an incident happens – by the release of the fishermen, what to do with the boats and so on…Now there really needs to be a stable and lasting solution.” (Hindustan Times)