Nervous India resorts to pressure tactics in Sri Lanka
Yuba Nath Lamsal
Panicked by China's economic prowess followed by its international clout, India is becoming more worried as South Asian countries are slowly turning to Beijing for strategic and economic cooperation. With the objective of keeping South Asia away from China's sphere of influence, India has been applying dirty tactics that include pressure, threat and even meddling in other's internal affairs. This is India's uncalled for behavior and response which is described as hegemonic and expansionist policy in South Asia.Pained from India's hawkish and hegemonic attitude that calls for squeezing and exploiting the weaker and less powerful countries in the neighbourhood, it is natural for smaller South Asian countries to look to Beijing for some concessions in various fronts and cooperation for their development. Beijing, too, is generous enough when it comes to the relationship with and assistance to its smaller neighbours in South Asia mainly Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan-a source for a big headache for New Delhi.Already having brought Bhutan under its suzerainty, New Delhi is doing everything possible to bring Nepal, too, under its sphere of security and foreign policy ambit. With the Awami League coming to power in Bangladesh, India is at ease to get things done in the interest of New Delhi. The Awami League is viewed Bangladesh as an ally of India and has given some concessions to India on some key issues.The next target is obviously Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is more important than other South Asian countries not only for India but also for the entire world because of its strategic location. Sri Lanka is situated at such a point of India Ocean which is commercially and strategically very important. Asia is now become the center of global trade and Sri Lanka is in the vital point through which most of the trade passes. Colombo port is the largest transshipment port in South Asia. It is more important for India because 70 per cent of Indian cargo comes through Colombo.India is more worried in recent days because of increased and deeper economic cooperation between Sri Lanka and China. Sri Lanka is currently busy in reconstruction and revival of its economic development after a long civil war for which China has provided meaningful cooperation. Unlike India, China has been applying shrewdly its soft power image to woo its neighbours and also the developing countries that has established Beijing's image as a genuine partner for development. This is the major source of irritation for India.As a part of its foreign policy, India has adopted coercive method and pressure tactics to bring smaller South Asian neighbours to its terms. The recent tactics adopted by India in Sri Lanka are illustrative of New Delhi's long-held hegemonic and coercive policy.To enforce this policy in relation to Sri Lanka, a three-member high level Indian team headed by National Defence Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, recently, visited Colombo to formally communicate New Delhi's displeasure over Colombo's ties and cooperative partnership with China. The tone and tenor with which Indian team that comprised, apart from Menon, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and defense secretary Pradip Kumar, spoke in Colombo made it clear that India and Sri Lanka are not at ease in terms of bilateral relations. The Indian team communicated to Sri Lankan leaders and officials that New Delhi was deeply concerned over the deepening bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and China over the years. The message of the Indian team was loud and clear that New Delhi would adopt all possible measures, including coercive ones, to force Sri Lanka to remain far from China. Initially, India has hinted that it would raise the UN report on war crimes if Colombo did not toe Indian line and break its partnership with China. This is an ugly pressure tactics of India to keep Sri Lanka under its sphere of influence, which is unjust, unwarranted and undiplomatic.Towards the end of civil war, India's tacit support helped Sri Lankan government troops to defeat LTTE rebels. India's tactics of supporting Sri Lankan government in the civil war was guided by two factors. The first one is its enmity with LTTE that came to the fore after the assassination of India's former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The second factor is guided by its strategy of compelling Sri Lankan government to allow more leeway for New Delhi in Sri Lankan affairs. Despite its indirect support in the war against LTTE, Sri Lanka refused to toe Indian line in everything but adopted the policy of having relations with all countries including India and China on the basis of mutual equality and national interest.Even in the ethnic conflict that turned into a civil war in Sri Lanka, Indian hand was more than visible. India initially trained and funded LTTE fighters who not only disrupted peace and development in Sri Lanka but also ultimately caused a great damage to India itself. All developments have shown that India first creates trouble in the neighbourhood and then comes up with a proposal to help for its solution. But this policy is not guided by its intention of helping the neighbour but to pave the way for its interference. In Sri Lanka, India created the ethnic war but later it came with the proposal to disarm the LTTE and accordingly sent troops under the agreement signed between Sri Lankan government of J R Jayawardhane and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. However, the Indian mission utterly failed in Sri Lanka because the people, parties and politicians of Sri Lanka overwhelmingly opposed Indian mission and interference. Even LTTE which was created by India stood against Indian mission. This is how Sri Lankan people stood firmly against Indian intervention and demonstrated a sense of patriotism which failed Indian design.India created the LTTE to destabilize and ultimately disintegrate Sri Lanka because Sri Lanka was well ahead of India in terms of development and economic growth. Had there not been civil war, Sri Lanka would have been at par with either Singapore or South Korea at present. But India did not see its neighbour to progress and prosper and instigated ethnic conflict that mutilated Sri Lanka's development endeavor.Despite India's tacit support to Sri Lankan government in its war against LTTE, Colombo got well aware of India's intention and became extra cautious in dealing with New Delhi. On the contrary, China's policy is guided by strengthening peace, stability and growth in the neighbourhood which naturally attracted South Asian countries including Sri Lanka to build stronger and cooperative relationship with Beijing. It is this reason why China was involved more in reconstruction works of Sri Lanka which irritated New Delhi more than anything. India neither assists the neighbours with good intention nor does it tolerate other countries' assistance in any of South Asian countries. India's policy is to keep its neighbours in backwardness so that they would always remain subservient to New Delhi in all fronts.This recent moves India has taken in relation to Sri Lanka once again reinforces the fact that India has not given up its colonial hangover. Based on Kautilya's Mandala theory 'your neighbour is always an enemy and neighbour's neighbour is friend', India has dubbed all its immediate neighbours that include Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan China, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as its enemies. India cannot afford to antagonize China and also thinks twice before taking any move against Pakistan. But New Delhi tries to coerce smaller and weaker neighbours line Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh not to have friendly relationship with Beijing and also Pakistan.Although New Delhi considers all its neighbours as its enemies, it considers China as a too big a power to challenge and deal with. Thus, New Delhi does not want China's involvement in South Asia. China is already involved in several infrastructure development projects, India considers it as a threat to its national security and maritime movement. China has built a large harbour at Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka, as part of its expanding maritime presence in the Indian Ocean, which is a major headache for India. Moreover, India seeks to safeguard its maritime routes through the Indian Ocean for which Sri Lanka is vital. India's this attitude can be substantiated by the remarks of foreign minister S M Krishna who said, "We would not allow any country to use Sri Lanka as a launching pad against India and this is our stated position".India's concern about Beijing is shared also by the United States. Thus, the United States has recently cultivated New Delhi as a counterweight to China, which is reflected in the recent overtures and moves of India in relation with Sri Lanka and other neighbours. However, Sri Lanka has repeatedly made its position clear viz-a-viz China and India. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said on more than one occasion that Sri Lanka considers India as an ally and China as a genuine friend and development partner. China's concern in Sri Lanka is purely economic and commercial but not strategic. Accordingly, Sri Lanka provides China with more commercial space because India is less interested in commercial engagements and infrastructure developments in Sri Lanka in comparison to China. Even so, any economic growth of Sri Lanka will inevitably benefits India as well.Thus, no country needs to be worried about China's presence in South Asia. As China is growing economically in leaps and bound, all its neighbours including those in South Asia can take benefit out of China's rise. That is exactly what Sri Lanka is trying to do. There should, thus, be no efforts from any quarters to prevent the South Asian countries from having good neighborly and friendly relations with ancient civilization and global power like China.
Panicked by China's economic prowess followed by its international clout, India is becoming more worried as South Asian countries are slowly turning to Beijing for strategic and economic cooperation. With the objective of keeping South Asia away from China's sphere of influence, India has been applying dirty tactics that include pressure, threat and even meddling in other's internal affairs. This is India's uncalled for behavior and response which is described as hegemonic and expansionist policy in South Asia.Pained from India's hawkish and hegemonic attitude that calls for squeezing and exploiting the weaker and less powerful countries in the neighbourhood, it is natural for smaller South Asian countries to look to Beijing for some concessions in various fronts and cooperation for their development. Beijing, too, is generous enough when it comes to the relationship with and assistance to its smaller neighbours in South Asia mainly Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan-a source for a big headache for New Delhi.Already having brought Bhutan under its suzerainty, New Delhi is doing everything possible to bring Nepal, too, under its sphere of security and foreign policy ambit. With the Awami League coming to power in Bangladesh, India is at ease to get things done in the interest of New Delhi. The Awami League is viewed Bangladesh as an ally of India and has given some concessions to India on some key issues.The next target is obviously Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is more important than other South Asian countries not only for India but also for the entire world because of its strategic location. Sri Lanka is situated at such a point of India Ocean which is commercially and strategically very important. Asia is now become the center of global trade and Sri Lanka is in the vital point through which most of the trade passes. Colombo port is the largest transshipment port in South Asia. It is more important for India because 70 per cent of Indian cargo comes through Colombo.India is more worried in recent days because of increased and deeper economic cooperation between Sri Lanka and China. Sri Lanka is currently busy in reconstruction and revival of its economic development after a long civil war for which China has provided meaningful cooperation. Unlike India, China has been applying shrewdly its soft power image to woo its neighbours and also the developing countries that has established Beijing's image as a genuine partner for development. This is the major source of irritation for India.As a part of its foreign policy, India has adopted coercive method and pressure tactics to bring smaller South Asian neighbours to its terms. The recent tactics adopted by India in Sri Lanka are illustrative of New Delhi's long-held hegemonic and coercive policy.To enforce this policy in relation to Sri Lanka, a three-member high level Indian team headed by National Defence Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, recently, visited Colombo to formally communicate New Delhi's displeasure over Colombo's ties and cooperative partnership with China. The tone and tenor with which Indian team that comprised, apart from Menon, foreign secretary Nirupama Rao and defense secretary Pradip Kumar, spoke in Colombo made it clear that India and Sri Lanka are not at ease in terms of bilateral relations. The Indian team communicated to Sri Lankan leaders and officials that New Delhi was deeply concerned over the deepening bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and China over the years. The message of the Indian team was loud and clear that New Delhi would adopt all possible measures, including coercive ones, to force Sri Lanka to remain far from China. Initially, India has hinted that it would raise the UN report on war crimes if Colombo did not toe Indian line and break its partnership with China. This is an ugly pressure tactics of India to keep Sri Lanka under its sphere of influence, which is unjust, unwarranted and undiplomatic.Towards the end of civil war, India's tacit support helped Sri Lankan government troops to defeat LTTE rebels. India's tactics of supporting Sri Lankan government in the civil war was guided by two factors. The first one is its enmity with LTTE that came to the fore after the assassination of India's former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The second factor is guided by its strategy of compelling Sri Lankan government to allow more leeway for New Delhi in Sri Lankan affairs. Despite its indirect support in the war against LTTE, Sri Lanka refused to toe Indian line in everything but adopted the policy of having relations with all countries including India and China on the basis of mutual equality and national interest.Even in the ethnic conflict that turned into a civil war in Sri Lanka, Indian hand was more than visible. India initially trained and funded LTTE fighters who not only disrupted peace and development in Sri Lanka but also ultimately caused a great damage to India itself. All developments have shown that India first creates trouble in the neighbourhood and then comes up with a proposal to help for its solution. But this policy is not guided by its intention of helping the neighbour but to pave the way for its interference. In Sri Lanka, India created the ethnic war but later it came with the proposal to disarm the LTTE and accordingly sent troops under the agreement signed between Sri Lankan government of J R Jayawardhane and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. However, the Indian mission utterly failed in Sri Lanka because the people, parties and politicians of Sri Lanka overwhelmingly opposed Indian mission and interference. Even LTTE which was created by India stood against Indian mission. This is how Sri Lankan people stood firmly against Indian intervention and demonstrated a sense of patriotism which failed Indian design.India created the LTTE to destabilize and ultimately disintegrate Sri Lanka because Sri Lanka was well ahead of India in terms of development and economic growth. Had there not been civil war, Sri Lanka would have been at par with either Singapore or South Korea at present. But India did not see its neighbour to progress and prosper and instigated ethnic conflict that mutilated Sri Lanka's development endeavor.Despite India's tacit support to Sri Lankan government in its war against LTTE, Colombo got well aware of India's intention and became extra cautious in dealing with New Delhi. On the contrary, China's policy is guided by strengthening peace, stability and growth in the neighbourhood which naturally attracted South Asian countries including Sri Lanka to build stronger and cooperative relationship with Beijing. It is this reason why China was involved more in reconstruction works of Sri Lanka which irritated New Delhi more than anything. India neither assists the neighbours with good intention nor does it tolerate other countries' assistance in any of South Asian countries. India's policy is to keep its neighbours in backwardness so that they would always remain subservient to New Delhi in all fronts.This recent moves India has taken in relation to Sri Lanka once again reinforces the fact that India has not given up its colonial hangover. Based on Kautilya's Mandala theory 'your neighbour is always an enemy and neighbour's neighbour is friend', India has dubbed all its immediate neighbours that include Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan China, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as its enemies. India cannot afford to antagonize China and also thinks twice before taking any move against Pakistan. But New Delhi tries to coerce smaller and weaker neighbours line Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh not to have friendly relationship with Beijing and also Pakistan.Although New Delhi considers all its neighbours as its enemies, it considers China as a too big a power to challenge and deal with. Thus, New Delhi does not want China's involvement in South Asia. China is already involved in several infrastructure development projects, India considers it as a threat to its national security and maritime movement. China has built a large harbour at Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka, as part of its expanding maritime presence in the Indian Ocean, which is a major headache for India. Moreover, India seeks to safeguard its maritime routes through the Indian Ocean for which Sri Lanka is vital. India's this attitude can be substantiated by the remarks of foreign minister S M Krishna who said, "We would not allow any country to use Sri Lanka as a launching pad against India and this is our stated position".India's concern about Beijing is shared also by the United States. Thus, the United States has recently cultivated New Delhi as a counterweight to China, which is reflected in the recent overtures and moves of India in relation with Sri Lanka and other neighbours. However, Sri Lanka has repeatedly made its position clear viz-a-viz China and India. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has said on more than one occasion that Sri Lanka considers India as an ally and China as a genuine friend and development partner. China's concern in Sri Lanka is purely economic and commercial but not strategic. Accordingly, Sri Lanka provides China with more commercial space because India is less interested in commercial engagements and infrastructure developments in Sri Lanka in comparison to China. Even so, any economic growth of Sri Lanka will inevitably benefits India as well.Thus, no country needs to be worried about China's presence in South Asia. As China is growing economically in leaps and bound, all its neighbours including those in South Asia can take benefit out of China's rise. That is exactly what Sri Lanka is trying to do. There should, thus, be no efforts from any quarters to prevent the South Asian countries from having good neighborly and friendly relations with ancient civilization and global power like China.
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