India has stepped up its diplomatic activities in Sri Lanka with a flurry of visits by high-profile government representatives. Even as Indian foreign secretary Nirupama Rao ended her tour of the island last week, Indian Army chief General V. K. Singh arrives here today (September 5) on a five-day visit.
General Singh served in the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) during Operation Pawan in Sri Lanka in 1987. His arrival is preparatory to the Indo-Lanka defence dialogue scheduled to begin next year. Indian Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma visited the island two months ago.
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| Nirupama Rao visiting a Kovil in Trincomalee |
As New Delhi prepares to enhance defence cooperation with Colombo, India’s Air Chief Marshal P V Naik is expected to be here before year-end as is Indian defence secretary Pradeep Kumar.
According to diplomatic sources, since both countries share strategic space in the Indian Ocean region, security dialogues are needed. Colombo’s preoccupation with the civil war had made structured defence engagements with New Delhi difficult until now.
During her meeting with President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo last Wednesday, Ms Rao is understood to have touched upon the topic of defence cooperation. She is also said to have conveyed to President Rajapaksa, the Indian government’s eagerness to see a political process begin.
According to sources, Ms Rao told the President that while India welcomed the Sri Lankan government’s “focus on development and rehabilitation” of the war displaced people, New Delhi looked at Colombo for a “long-term perspective that also includes the issues relating to the political settlement that would meet some of the needs of the minorities.”
The sources said that President Rajapaksa is understood to have “constantly” told Ms Rao that he was “focused on that (political solution) need” and that he “plans to move on it” and that “he has his sight set on it.” During the meeting at Temple Trees, the President is said to have assured her that his government was “aware about how India was looking at the issue of political settlement.”
With assembly elections in Tamil Nadu scheduled for May next year, the pressure on New Delhi for a political settlement of the ethnic dispute in Sri Lanka will only increase in the coming months. That Indian foreign minister S. M. Krishna will be here next month seems to reflect the domestic concerns.
According to the sources, Ms Rao is also said to have assured President Rajapaksa that India would continue to aid and support Sri Lanka’s efforts towards people-centric rehabilitation.
Ms Rao raised the issue of violence against Indian fishermen in international waters and suggested that regular meetings of the joint working group on fishing be held so as to look into the cases of their alleged harassments.
“President Rajapaksa said that Indian investor interest in Sri Lanka is rapidly growing, and that several leading Indian entrepreneurs in the industry and other sectors have expressed interest in setting up business in Sri Lanka,” the President’s media unit said in a statement released after the meeting on September 1.
Apart from meeting the President, UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe, leaders of Tamil and Muslim political parties and External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris, Ms Rao also made trips to Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya and Trincomalee. She met the internally displaced persons (IDPs) inside Menik Farm while in Vavuniya.
According to sources, many of the Menik Farm IDPs told her that they were anxious to return to their places of origin (Mullaitivu, in most cases) but could not because demining was still to be completed.
A pilot project of a 1,000 houses will soon begin in the north an Indian official said adding that the Indian government hoped that the first beneficiaries would be vulnerable groups such as war-widows and physically-challenged persons.
Besides, Ahmedabad-based Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) will provide war-widows in Batticaloa with vocational training to help restore their livelihoods. SEWA is an Indian NGO with years of experience in women’s empowerment.
The Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka is also expanding by way of a new unit to coordinate activities across Indian infrastructure projects here. A similar development cooperation wing is present in the Indian mission in Kathmandu. |
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