Sri Lanka-ADVANTAGE
CHINA
Harsh V Pant;Mar 27, 2013
As a consequence of its domestic political posturing, India
has pushed Sri Lanka move further into the arms of China.
After all the drama, India finally voted with 24 other
states last week in favour of the controversial UN Human Rights Council
resolution on human rights violations in Sri Lanka. In fact, New Delhi was
pressing for as many as seven amendments to the draft resolution but given the
time constraint had to remain content with the original draft. The main aspect
of Indian intervention was the need for the institution of a credible and
independent investigation into alleged war crimes and human rights
abuses.
In his remarks, India’s permanent representative to the
UNHRC in Geneva, Dilip Sinha underscored the ‘inadequate progress by Sri Lanka
in fulfilling its commitment’ to the UN council, and called upon the nation to
fully implement the 13th amendment. “India has always been of the view that the
end of the conflict in Sri Lanka provided a unique opportunity to pursue a
lasting political settlement, acceptable to all communities in Sri Lanka,
including the Tamils,” Sinha suggested.
If last year, New Delhi had tried to amend the
west-sponsored resolution to make it less intrusive, more balanced and more respectful
of Sri Lankan sovereignty, this year it was trying to do the opposite: bringing
in amendments to make some words in the resolution stronger. It reportedly
pushed for seven written amendments in six paragraphs of the resolution. But if
this was aimed at the domestic political landscape, it clearly failed to have
any impact as both the AIADMK and the DMK have accused the UPA government of
‘diluting’ the US-sponsored resolution.
As a consequence of this domestic political posturing, India
today has not only marginalised itself in the affairs of Tamils in Sri Lanka
but has also made sure that one of its most important neighbours will move
further into the arms of China. After repeatedly opposing country-specific
resolutions at the UNHCR and other such bodies, India has now set a dangerous
precedent which will come back to haunt India. India’s foreign policy stands
today bereft of both principle and pragmatism.
As it is Sri Lanka has been rapidly slipping out of India’s
orbit. India failed to exert its leverage over the humanitarian troubles that
the Tamils trapped in the fighting were facing. New Delhi’s attempts to end the
war and avert humanitarian tragedy in north-east Sri Lanka proved utterly
futile.
Colombo’s centrality between Aden and Singapore makes it
extremely significant strategically for Indian power projection possibilities.
After initially following India’s lead in international affairs, even demanding
that the British leave from their naval base at Trincomalee air base and air
base at Katunayake in 1957, Colombo gradually gravitated towards a more
independent foreign policy posture. And it was India’s enthusiasm for China
that made Sri Lanka take China seriously but after the Chinese victory in its
1962 war with India, Colombo started courting Beijing much more seriously.
Major aid donor
And now China has displaced Japan as Sri Lanka’s major aid
donor with an annual aid package of $1 billion. Bilateral trade between China
and Sri Lanka has doubled over the last five years with China emerging as the
largest trading partner of Sri Lanka. China is now supplying more than half of
all the construction and development loans Sri Lanka is receiving. Chinese
investment in the development of infrastructure and oil exploration projects in
Sri Lanka has also gathered momentum. China is providing interest free loans
and preferential loans at subsidised rates to Sri Lanka for the development of
infrastructure. It is the first foreign country to have an exclusive economic
zone in Sri Lanka.
China is involved in a range of infrastructure development
project in Sri Lanka – constructing power plants, modernising Sri Lankan
railways, providing financial and technical assistance in launching of
communication satellites. China is financing more than 85 per cent of the
Hambantota Development Zone to be completed over the next decade. This will
include an international container port, a bunkering system, an oil refinery,
and international airport, and other facilities. The port in Hambantota, deeper
than the one at Colombo, is to be used as a refuelling and docking station for
its navy. Though the two sides claim that this merely a commercial venture, its
future utility as a strategic asset by China remains a real possibility to
India’s consternation. For China, Hambantota will not only be an important
transit for general cargo and oil but a presence in Hambantota also enhances
China’s monitoring and intelligence gathering capabilities vis-a-vis
India.
Indian has expressed its displeasure about growing Chinese
involvement in Sri Lanka on a number of occasions. In 2007, India’s then
national security advisor openly criticized Sri Lanka for attempting to
purchase Chinese-built radar system on the grounds that it would ‘overreach’
into the Indian air space. Yet Sri Lanka has emerged stronger and more stable
after the military success in the Eelam war and the two elections at the
national level.
Colombo matters because Indian Ocean matters. The ‘great
game’ of this century will be played on the waters of the Indian Ocean. Though
India’s location gives it operational advantages in the Indian Ocean, it is by
no means certain that New Delhi is in a position to hold on to its geographic
advantages. China is rapidly catching up and its ties with Sri Lanka are aimed
at expanding its profile in this crucial part of the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment