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China has praised India for helping Sri Lanka at a time of crisis in what appeared to be a move to deflect growing theories that China is peeved that Sri Lanka is moving away from China’s orbit and closer to the pro-West axis spearheaded by India in this part of the world.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian this week told the media in Beijing that China had commended India for its efforts to mitigate the crisis in Sri Lanka.  

He said China was ready to work with India and the rest of the international community to help Sri Lanka and other countries pull through the debt crisis they faced, referring to several other countries facing issues in paying back loans taken following the COVID-19 and global recession. The West was blaming China for giving several countries loans for development projects–loans which those recipient countries now found difficult to pay back.

Cynics say China may be peeved it had been out manoeuvered in Sri Lanka by India in the geopolitical games played out in the Indian Ocean region and therefore opted to show it was in it together with India to help Sri Lanka, and not competing. Others say that perhaps it was an uncharitable assessment of China’s genuine desire to help an old friend in Sri Lanka.

A US$ 1.5 billion Chinese credit line and another US$ one billion loan from China to Sri Lanka remain in the pipeline.

In a separate development, India was running into issues with the West over doing business with Russia, and analysts believed it was veering back to the ‘middle path’ as a result. Its Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar last week referred to the duplicity of the West in buying Russian gas but objecting to India buying Russian fuel. On June 3 he asked the West to keep out of Indo-China relations.

“We have a difficult relationship with China. We are perfectly capable of managing it. If I get global understanding and support, obviously, it will also help. But this idea that I do a transaction, I come in conflict one because it will help in conflict two, that is not how the world works,” he said. He also said India’s issues with China had nothing to do with Russia.

Minister Jaishankar’s soft approach towards China may not please hardcore ruling Hindutva Baratha Janatha Party (BJP) members who see China as a natural enemy. With a trade volume of 125 billion annually and 55 per cent of its external trade passing through the South China sea, clearly relations with China are not to be trifled with.

Some of the goats and chickens that were allegedly smuggled to Sri Lanka from India

See what they are smuggling now–goats and chickens

The smuggling of persons, Kerala cannabis and other items, across the Palk Strait is nothing new for India and Sri Lanka.

But, since the economic crisis started in Sri Lanka, there were many reports of people fleeing to Tamil Nadu as economic refugees and various essential items–even fertilisers–being smuggled into the country amidst heavy surveillance by security authorities in the Northern coastal region.

It seems that smugglers went to another level by smuggling livestock across the border.

Last week, Navy personnel who were engaged in routine surveillance in Thalaimannar, noticed some goats–unusual ones compared to local ones–in an abandoned land near the coast. The Navy suspected that those five goats might have been smuggled into the country via boat from India.

Based on Naval investigations, the Police moved the animals to Mannar Magistrate’s Court and secured the maintenance of the poor animals on a nearby farm despite a local claiming ownership of the livestock, but failed to support his claim with documents.

About 50 chickens were recovered by the Navy in a suspicious boat in the Mannar waters on Thursday.

One fisherman said similar smuggling incidents were on the rise due to economic difficulties experienced by the fisherfolk and if authorities failed to make available adequate supplies, more items would be reaching the Northern shore in the coming months.

Mangala warned Lanka may become another Lebanon

During Wednesday’s debate and approval of a supplementary estimate of Rs. 695 billion, some Opposition parliamentarians recalled how former Finance Minister–the late Mangala Samaraweera–warned about the proposed tax cuts introduced in the Presidential manifesto of ‘Vistas of Prosperity and Splendour’ back in 2019.

One of them–Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran–recalled how the late minister warned that if those tax cuts were to be implemented, the country would become another Lebanon.

“Three years down the line, we find ourselves in a similar scenario.”

The TNA front liner also said the country needed to learn lessons from the Lebanon crisis as it was still struggling to cope with the crisis due to political instability–another challenge Sri Lanka was still trying to address despite Ranil Wickremesinghe becoming the Prime Minister of the Government.

Following the attention shed on the former Finance Minister’s remarks, many Twitter users tracked what the late minister had said on the government’s tax policies on his official Twitter handle back in 2019 and left responses of appreciating his concerns while bashing the current rulers. The account was inactive since his demise last August.

One of his comments on a newspaper advertorial by the ‘Business community of Sri Lanka’ appreciating tax policies of the Presidential manifesto goes like this: “Gota’s tax plan wants to set #SriLanka on an Express Train to bankruptcy, default and a Greek style debt-crisis. VAT change alone equivalent to Health, Defence or Pensions budgets. #LKA certainly doesn’t need advice from a PR agency conjured ‘business community’.”

70′s queues, quotas vs current crisis: Which is worse?

With long queues for essential items and fuel rationing, those who lived through the economic crisis during Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s administration in the 1970′s recalled how the country’s most vulnerable groups struggled to put food on the table for their families.

Some political analysts argue the ongoing crisis is even worse than the 1970s–with similar political rhetoric such as “the worst is yet to come” or “things will get worse before they get any better”, making more and more Sri Lankans sad about the bleak future ahead.

A young social media user shared this week that his elderly parents were only given US$ 100 by a state bank at the airport counter for a three-month trip to see their grandson abroad after many years.

“That is literally less than one US$ a day for their expenses,” the post said, noting that elderly parents rely on relatives abroad for their expenses despite having enough foreign exchange in their bank accounts.

Another social media user who lived in the 1970′s era described how Sri Lankans were given only three pounds and ten shillings before leaving to go abroad. Given such comparisons, whether the 1970′s were worse than now is a debatable issue.

Confusion over salary of Prime Minister’s secretary

Some recent media reports which were later picked up by social media saying that the Prime Minister’s Secretary was drawing a high salary has attracted the attention of other public sector officials.

Some of them known to the Prime Minister’s Secretary called him to check as to how his salary had gone up and jokingly asked whether they could take a loan from him.

He had to offer an explanation to them that he had not received such an increase and he was receiving the salary similar to that of any ministry secretary.

The news paper reference was something to do with the Finance Ministry Secretary who is an officer seconded from the Central Bank and entitled to a salary keeping with the Central Bank payment scheme.

It was a confusion between the Prime Minister’s Secretary and the Finance Ministry Secretary with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe holding the Finance Ministry portfolio.

Diplomat Kananathan to sacrifice salary until country situation improves

After the Cabinet of ministers decided not to take their salaries due to the unprecedented economic crisis, a similar offer came from a diplomat.

He is none other than Kana V. Kananathan, our man in Kenya, the well known businessman from Bandarawela who made it big in Africa. In the news recently for providing a private jet for former Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to visit Tirupati in India for a pooja at a Hindu temple, High Commissioner Kananathan has told the Foreign Ministry he will forgo his monthly salary and allowance with immediate effect “until the situation in the country improves.”

His salary is in the region of US$ 3000 monthly–about Rs. one million–according to an insider in the Ministry. His salary must have been a pittance for the millionaire businessman who owns safari lodges and power projects and his gesture is a good one as a political appointee, but how many others can follow the example is the question.

The larger issue was how much of foreign exchange was the country spending on friends, relatives and political acolytes of presidents, ministers and monks who had wormed themselves into the various Sri Lankan embassies, especially in the expensive West. They served neither king nor country, but only themselves.

‘Basil part’ of slogan his ringtone, says Basil

Even though he had just stepped down from his post as a Parliamentarian, former Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa was in good spirits as he fronted a media conference on Thursday. He was generally good natured in answering questions from journalists, though he was visibly irritated when one journalist asked him if he was “passing the ball” onto the people for the prevailing economic crisis.

“By that logic, if we are passing the ball, then blame should also go to the people who passed us that ball by bringing us to power at the last election,” he quipped.

He also addressed the now infamous slogan first heard at Rajagiriya but which could now be heard country wide: “Kaputu Kaak Kaak Kaak, Basil, Basil, Basil, Basil!” Mr Rajapaksa claimed the “Basil part” of the slogan was his ringtone, though the “other part” featured less.

Institute of Chartered Accountants consider action against Cabraal

Former Central Bank Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal came under heavy public criticism recently for some of the controversial policy decisions including keeping a fixed exchange rate before the floating of the rupee and paying back a US$ 500 million sovereign bond that matured in January when there was not enough funds available in the foreign reserves for essential imports.

It seems Mr. Cabraal, who is a Chartered Accountant by profession, also came under criticism within his own fraternity. Another fellow Chartered Accountant raised the issue with their fraternity collective–The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka–on the conduct of the former Governor through a Right to Information (RTI) appeal. The collective responded that they had received complaints about the “professional misconduct” of their member, Ajith Nivard Cabraal.

Responding to another question about whether any actions or directives were taken by the institute in that regard, the collective said as per section 17 of the Incorporation Act No 23 of 1959 of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, the “procedure applicable for the inquiries by the Investigation Committee has started.” Commenting on the matter, another colleague said Mr. Cabraal’s actions and behaviour discredited their profession and urged strong actions against him according to the ‘Code of Conduct and Ethics’ and guidelines published by the collective.