Round The World

New Delhi, 14 September 2010

India- Sri Lanka Ties

ONUS ON RAJAPAKSIIA TO DELIVER

By Monish Tourangbam

Research Scholar, School of International Studies (JNU)

This is a crucial juncture in the politics of Sri Lanka as President Mahinda Rajapaksa further increases his power grip. In the face of serious protests raised by the Opposition and civil society, the Sri Lankan President went ahead with the Bill that gives him wide-ranging powers over the politics of the country.

The controversial amendments to the 1978 Sri Lankan Constitution includes lifting the two-term limit on the post of the President, which literally means that strongman Rajapaksa is in for a long innings. Also, the Parliamentary Council will replace the Constitutional Council to appoint persons to high offices, raising fears of politicization of the process of appointments to the police, judiciary, public service and electoral commissions.

According to sources, crossovers by several members of the main Opposition Party, United National Party (UNP) in recent days ensured that Rajapaksa got the required two-third majority. In a House of 225 members, he won 161 votes in favour of the 18th Amendment. Though many opposed this, as it would lead to dictatorial tendencies and hamper democracy, the Government defended it as measures to bring stability to the post-conflict island nation. “Political instability is the last thing we want today as we seek to derive the fullest benefit for our people from the unique opportunity we have today having eradicated terrorism,” Foreign Minister Peiris told Parliament.

President Rajapaksa held the reins of the large-scale operations against the once-dreaded LTTE and presided over its final collapse following its leader Prabhakaran’s death. And early this year, consolidated his power by winning the Presidential elections, albeit amidst controversies and some messy power tangles with his erstwhile Army General Sarath Fonseka, largely credited with bringing the LTTE to an end.

The timing of the Amendments is quite bold given the fact that the international community now set its eyes on Rajapaksa’s administration to show some material progresses as far as national reconciliation is concerned. Even the Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao who has been regularly engaged with the Sri Lankan developments commented during her recent visit to the island nation that the time had come for Sri Lanka to move beyond re-settlement of displaced Tamil civilians to resolution of the ethnic conflict.

She stressed the need for quickly embarking on a long-term political solution involving all the concerned parties in Sri Lanka. The Indian diplomat became the first Foreign Secretary to visit the Northern Province, in her mission to get a first-hand account of the Indian assistance and the situation of the re-settled Tamils.

The Manmohan Government has put hopes on Rajapaksa’s shoulders by continually courting the latter’s Administration and maintaining the flow of high-level visits. Now the onus is on President Rajapaksa to deliver on promises he had made.

Secretary Rao is India’s regulator emissary to the island nation and according to reports Foreign Minister Krishna would be visiting the country shortly. The India’s Army Chief General V.K. Singh’s visit to Sri Lanka underlines the efforts by both countries to start normal defence cooperation, given that the end of the conflict with LTTE has opened a new chapter in India-Sri Lanka defence relationship.

Recall, during the Tamil rebels fight, India’s active military ties with the Sri Lankan Government would have created complexities in our domestic politics. Thus, while the conflict was on, New Delhi had restricted military assistance to non-lethal aspects such as enhancing the Armed forces’ maritime and aerial domain awareness.

When the Sri Lankan President visited India June last, the focus was on taking forward cooperation in economy and other crucial areas of development, as also in reconstruction and regeneration. The Sri Lankans are at a critical juncture. After being ravaged by civil war for years which hindered any chances of reintegration and regeneration of society, they have a unique opportunity to rebuild society and assuage all grievances and misunderstanding. They should be a step ahead of the situation.

Particularly as the issue of the rights of ethnic Sri Lankan Tamils ignites in India’s domestic politics, with Tamil Nadu being the centre of dissent. Against this backdrop, an effective and honest resolution of this assumes importance for healthy India-Sri Lanka ties.

Pertinently, the India-Sri Lanka joint declaration following Rajapaksa’s visit affirmed, “Prime Minister emphasized that a meaningful devolution package, building upon the 13th Amendment (to the Sri Lankan Constitution), would create the necessary conditions for a lasting political settlement. The President of Sri Lanka reiterated his determination to evolve a political settlement acceptable to all communities that would act as a catalyst to create the necessary conditions in which all the people of Sri Lanka could lead their lives in an atmosphere of peace, justice and dignity, consistent with democracy, pluralism, equal opportunity and respect for human rights.”

Undoubtedly, both sides give major importance to the issue of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), a consequence of the all-out war between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan forces. The early and successful resolution of this crucial issue will to a large extent, give some credit to the Rajapaksa Administration that has amassed substantial power and silence some of the protestors in India who are critical of active cooperation between the Indian and the Sri Lankan Governments.

Since the end of the long-drawn conflict, New Delhi has been in the forefront of providing relief and rehabilitation of displaced Tamil civilians and in demining operation in the erstwhile conflict zones. True, President Rajapaksa is seen as a strongman, despite his share of controversies and accusations of increasing authoritarianism and undue influence in political decisions.

But, the real assessment of Rajapaksha’s tenure (with the Amendments giving him more chances to be in the driver’s seat) would be on how his increasing powers co-relate to increasing stability, albeit with inclusiveness in post-conflict Sri Lanka.

As of now, the best diplomacy is to view the changing realities in Sri Lanka as a chance for the present Administration to quickly and successfully bring an end to the resettlement process and chart out an enduring peace plan that will prevent from spawning more Prabhakarans. As a neighbouring country and as a regional powerhouse, bench-warming is not an option for India. However, at the same time, cautious diplomacy should be deployed so that New Delhi does not appear meddling in the affairs of other countries. INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)