DIPLOMATIC BLUNDERS: TENSION WITH INDIA
For Sri Lanka, last week was eventful for one reason or the other. The week began with religious observances and celebrations for Vesak, with the added significance of it being the 2,600th year of the Lord Buddha’s enlightenment.
It is ironic that though the Lord Buddha is revered as the greatest son of India, Sri Lanka appears to be again having serious problems with its giant neighbour and the Southern State of Tamil Nadu. In a much delayed effort at building bridges of accommodation and understanding, External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris last week wrote to Tamil Nadu’s new Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jeyaram congratulating her on her election victory and on her sbeing sworn-in as Chief Minister of the most populous Tamil State. The message came in the wake of Ms. Jeyaram calling for a an international probe on accountability issues during the final stages of the war in Sri Lanka. Speaking on her own channel, Jaya TV, Ms. Jeyaram said it was India's responsibility to ensure a dignified and honourable existence for the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Last week Dr. Peiris also visited New Delhi virtually on his own for crucial talks with India’s foreign policy high priests. The joint statement that came out of the meeting is seen by many political analysts as a tacit agreement committing the Rajapaksa regime to fully implement the “Made in India” 13th Amendment. This means the 13th Amendment plus which in turn means that provincial councils and especially those in the North and East will get and fully exercise police and land distribution powers. Essentially this is what the LTTE tried to achieve militarily, but now big brother India appears to be forcing it down the Rajapaksa regime’s throat diplomatically. While on the one hand, the Sri Lankan government has been telling the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and the Human rights Council that the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka is on the right track and in line with the aspirations of the Tamil people, the joint statement with India states otherwise. It announces that India and Sri Lanka have agreed that the end of the armed conflict in Sri Lanka has created a historic opportunity to address all outstanding issues in a spirit of understanding and mutual accommodation imbued with political vision to work towards genuine national reconciliation. The key word is “Genuine”. The statement means Dr. Peiris affirmed the Rajapaksa regime’s commitment to ensuring expeditious and concrete progress in the ongoing dialogue between the Sri Lankan Government and representatives of Tamil parties. Dr. Peiris also reiterated that the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission appointed by the government was looking into accountability issues and would act accordingly. But India was non committal on its stand regarding the controversial report by the experts’ panel appointed by UN Chief Ban Ki-moon to examine and advise him on accountability issues during the last stages of the war in Sri Lanka. The experts recommended there were “credible allegations” regarding genocide or war crimes and they felt a probe by an independent international group was necessary.
A pertinent question that has to be asked is whether the external affairs ministry lacked experienced officials well versed with the politics of India and knowledgeable in subtle diplomatic nuances to accompany the minister whose visit turned out to be a flop. In recent years the government has been recruiting more political henchmen or women for important diplomatic posts and this has created a major crisis. Opposition leaders and even some government allies like the Patriotic National Movement are saying that Dr. Peiris had betrayed this country and protests are being organised against India’s crafty interference in the internal affairs of sovereign Sri Lanka.
It’s sad to see Sri Lanka, which government leaders say is on the threshold of being the wonder of Asia now wondering around Asia not knowing what to say or what to do and struggling to get its act together especially on the UN report and the reconciliation process.
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