Sri Lanka news and discussions

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Pro-Tamil protesters attack Lankan High Commission in Delhi

New Delhi, October 02, 2009

Protesters sympathetic to the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka barged into the country’s High Commission in New Delhi and damaged property, according to media reports. However, no embassy staff was injured in the incident.

Around 10-15 people entered the High Commission and damaged the property in the afternoon.

Earlier today, Activists of a Tamil Nadu-based Hindu outfit were arrested in Coimbatore when they tried to stage a black flag demonstration against Union Home Minister P Chidambaram to protest UPA government's ''failure'' to solve the problems of Sri Lankan Tamils.

Police said some 22 Hindu Makkal Katchi (HMK) activists, shouting slogans against the Sri Lankan government, were on their way to stage a demonstration at a junction. However, Chidambaram had already crossed the spot before they could reach it,the sources added.

Pro-Tamil protesters attack Lankan High Commission in Delhi- Hindustan Times


Sri Lankan high commission in New Delhi attacked, Colombo voices ’shock’

October 2nd, 2009 - 6:49 pm ICT by IANS

New Delhi, Oct 2 (IANS) A group of around 10-15 Tamil protesters shouting anti-Sri Lanka slogans barged into the Sri Lankan high commission here Friday and started vandalising it, the first time such an incident has happened here. Sri Lanka has expressed “shock” over the attack.

Sri Lanka has taken up the issue with India’s external affairs ministry.

“We are shocked. We have taken it up with the external affairs ministry and the Delhi Police. We will also be writing to the ministry,” S. Gunaratne, first secretary in the Sri Lankan high commission, told IANS.

The incident took place around 3 p.m. The Tamil protesters after scaling the wall of the high commission, located in the high-security diplomatic enclave in the Indian capital, smashed 10-15 flower pots.

“In the afternoon, there were about 40-50 people chanting anti-Lanka slogans. They looked like Tamils and flaunted placards attacking the Sri Lankan government,” Gunaratne said.

“Around 10 people had jumped over the perimeter of the main gate. Since it was a holiday, there was no staff around. They smashed several flower pots and chanted slogans,” he said.

The Lankan security staff managed to overpower them, he said. No one was arrested.

The Sri Lankan high commission is a stone’s throw from the Chanakyapuri police station.

“No one was injured. It all happened in two minutes. Before the police could swing into action, they had fled. No one could be arrested,” Additional Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) S. Dass told IANS.

“These people were Tamils protesting and they are extending support to Tamils in Sri Lanka. They were prepared and had arrived along with news channel reporters. We are seeking video footage from news channels to identify those who stormed the high commission,” he said.

Sri Lankan high commission in New Delhi attacked, Colombo voices ’shock’

 

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Delhi Police yet to arrest culprits behind attack on Lankan mission

October 2nd, 2009 - 7:34 pm ICT by ANI

New Delhi, Oct.2 (ANI): Delhi Police on Friday said that they were yet to arrest persons responsible for the attack on the Sri Lankan High Commission here this afternoon.

The incident took place around 3 p.m.

A senior police officer when approached by the ANI TV crew at the site, said he could not say anything as no one had been arrested so far, but revealed that the attack and protest was organised by supporters of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

The police officer further said that the mayhem caused at the high commission lasted all of two minutes, well before the police arrived on the scene.

He said that there were about 15 protesters who attacked the diplomatic mission.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Government has expressed its shock over the incident and reportedly taken up the issue with the Indian External Affairs Ministry. (ANI)

Delhi Police yet to arrest culprits behind attack on Lankan mission


India regrets attack on Sri Lanka High Commission

October 2nd, 2009 - 7:57 pm ICT by ANI Tell a Friend -

New Delhi, Oct.2 (ANI): The Indian Government on Friday expressed regret over the attack on the Sri Lankan High Commission in the capital.

In a statement issued this evening, a government spokesman said: “We deeply regret this unfortunate incident, which has involved an act of violence against a diplomatic mission. The law enforcement agencies have swung into action. Security around the High Commission premises has been strengthened. Action as prescribed by the law will be taken against the perpetrators of this incident.”

India regrets attack on Sri Lanka High Commission

 

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Sri Lanka bourse hits record high, best in Asia

By Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's share market .CSE hit a record high on Friday and became the best-performing bourse in Asia led by strong post-war economic growth hopes with heavy retail buying across the board, analysts and traders said.

It is the best performing bourse in Asia this year with a return of 100.61 percent so far. The bourse's performance is around double that of the benchmark emerging market equities index .MSCIEF, Reuters data showed.

Sri Lanka bourse hits record high, best in Asia


Reports of firing by Lankan navy on Indian fishermen wrong: PC

October 02, 2009 18:56 IST

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram [ Images ] on Friday dismissed as "wrong reports" about firing on Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy in the last 10 months, but said cases of some excesses by them have been taken up.

"There have been excesses by the Sri Lankan Navy, like arrests and keeping the fishermen in their custody, who crossed the maritime border. However, there were no incidents or reports of firing for the last 10 months. The reports are wrong," said Chidambaram.

No firing by Lankan navy on Indian fishermen: PC


IDP camps are not zoos, says Lankan diplomat

CHENNAI: Even as major political parties in Tamil Nadu are urging the Centre to send a delegation of MPs from the State to Sri Lanka to study the condition of the displaced Tamils in Lanka, the Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka, Vadivel Krishnamoorthy, on Thursday, said the camps for the Tamils in the country were not “zoos” which people could come and watch.

IDP camps are no zoos, says Lankan diplomat

 

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Sri Lankan shares at record high, world's top performer

10.05.09, 05:21 AM EDT

By Ranga Sirilal and Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's stock market, the world's top-performing bourse this year, hit a record high on Monday on investor hopes for strong post-war economic growth off the back of easing inflation and declining interest rates.

The All-Share Price Index of Colombo Stock Exchange rose 2.62 percent to 3,097.00 points by 0610 GMT, surpassing the previous record of 3,038.48 points traded on Feb. 19, 2007.

With a return of 105 percent so far this year, it is the best performing bourse in the world. Its rise is around double that of the benchmark emerging market equities index.

Sri Lanka shares at record high, world's top performer - Forbes.com


It's destination Lanka for Indian cos

T K Rohit, TNN 5 October 2009, 06:15am IST

CHENNAI: With the end of the ethnic war in Sri Lanka, the Rajapakse government is dovetailing its policies to become a near shoring destination of India. The idea is to move into business spheres other than just tea and hospitality. As a first step in attracting investments in the former war zones of eastern and northern Sri Lanka, the Lankan government recently announced a 15-year tax holiday for companies setting up operations in these regions.

Among those who are queuing up with their investment bags are NTPC, Cairn, L&T, Purvankara and a host of IT companies.

It's destination Lanka for Indian cos - The Times of India


‘No Sri Lanka solution to Moro conflict’

By Jeffrey M. Tupas

First Posted 16:51:00 10/04/2009

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—An international group of peace advocates currently in Mindanao has advised against the so-called Sri Lankan Solution to end the armed conflict and rebellion in the region.

Sri Lankan Professor Amal Jayawardane, executive director of the Regional Center for Strategic Studies based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, said the Sri Lankan solution should not be a model for other nations seeking to achieve peace in their respective areas.

‘No Sri Lanka solution to Moro conflict’ - INQUIRER.net


Indian Navy conducts joint exercise with Sri Lanka navy

Oct 05, Colombo: A three-day combined Indo-Lanka Naval exercise is being planned in the seas off Colombo. The exercise is scheduled to begin early this week in the Western Naval Area, sources said.

Three Indian warships will call on the port of Colombo today (October 5) to join the exercise, the first joint naval exercise after Sri Lanka's triumph over terrorism.

Indian Navy conducts joint exercise with Sri Lanka navy

 

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Hunger striker's £7m Big Mac: Tamil who cost London a fortune in policing was sneaking in fast-food

Tamil takeaways: 'Hunger striker' Parameswaran Subramaniyan, sitting outside the Houses of Parliament, secretly ate McDonald's burgers

By Stephen Wright

Last updated at 1:20 AM on 09th October 2009

He was the hunger striker at the centre of one of the longest-running demonstrations ever mounted in Britain.

For weeks Parameswaran Subramaniyan lay in a tent outside the Houses of Parliament as Tamils protested about the plight of relatives under attack in Sri Lanka.

At one stage, his supporters claimed he was 'critically weak'.

The protest finally ended in June, but two revelations put it back in the spotlight yesterday.

First, police said it had left them with a £7.1million overtime bill.

Then it emerged that Mr Subramaniyan, 28, had eased his ordeal by secretly eating McDonald's burgers.

Scotland Yard surveillance teams using specialist monitoring equipment had watched in disbelief as he tucked into the clandestine deliveries.

A police insider said: 'In view of the overtime bill, this has got to be most expensive Big Mac ever.'

FULL STORY: Hunger striker's £7m Big Mac: Tamil who cost London a fortune in policing was sneaking in fast-food

 

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Investors reap peace dividend in Sri Lanka

By Amal Jayasinghe (AFP) – 7 hours ago

COLOMBO — Sri Lanka's small stock exchange has become one of the world's top performing bourses as investors reap the peace dividend from the end to the island's bloody ethnic conflict.

Investors are banking on renewed economic strength and profits in the country that emerged in May from a bloody and protracted civil war which claimed between 80,000 and 100,000 lives over nearly four decades.

"All the economic indications are in the right direction but the end of the war has been the key factor" in the market's performance, said Shivantha Meepage, analyst at Acuity Stockbrokers in the capital Colombo.

Tourism-related stocks have been faring particularly well on the back of expectations that more foreign holidaymakers will visit the country's golden sandy beaches, picturesque tea-growing mountains and ancient heritage sites.

Infrastructure-related shares have also been performing strongly on the back of plans by the government to rebuild Sri Lanka's war-ravaged northeast.

The positive news has helped make the stock market Asia's best performer and just behind Peru's Lima in the global stock market rankings.

AFP: Investors reap peace dividend in Sri Lanka


Militant nabbed in Pak Army HQ siege behind Lanka team attack

PTI 11 October 2009, 04:57pm IST

ISLAMABAD: The lone surviving militant of the Pakistan Army Headquarters siege was linked to the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore and has close links to banned terrorist groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Harkut-ul-Ansar, Pakistani military officials said on Sunday.

Aqeel alias 'Dr Usman', described by military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas as the leader of the terrorists involved in the attack at the army headquaters, was captured this morning when commandos stormed the building, where the attackers were holed up with dozens of hostages.

Four of Aqeel's accomplices were gunned down by the commandos, who freed 42 hostages. Aqeel was injured when he attempted to set off a large quantity of explosives, Abbas said.

Military officials said Aqeel was linked to the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore earlier this year in which eight people and 20 others, including players, were injured.

Militant nabbed in Pak Army HQ siege behind Lanka team attack

 

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As the gunfire ends, Sri Lanka's property boom begins

With its 25-year civil war over, Sri Lanka is enjoying rising tourism - and the return of investors to the home market.

For somewhere the size of Ireland, Sri Lanka packs an alluring punch with its palm-tree-fringed beaches, colonial tea plantations, unique wildlife and ancient cities and temples. But the savage war that has raged for more than 25 years between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamil minority has had a devastating effect on the island's economy and tourism.

The insurgency was formally declared over last May when the last stronghold of the Tamil Tigers was taken, and the effect was immediate. By August, tourism was 35 per cent up on 2008, and enterprising locals are predicting a sharp revival of the island's economic fortunes.

For the past year, Charlie Wrey, 60, and his wife Tweenie, 51, have been managing a boutique hotel in Galle, a 100-mile journey from Sri Lanka's only international airport, Colombo. The city is on the south-west corner of the island and is famed for both its Dutch fort - a Unesco World Heritage site - and its international cricket ground.

With the war over, the couple, who brought up their three sons in Compton Bassett, Wiltshire, now feel confident enough to invest £180,000 in an 81/ 2-acre tea plantation seven miles inland from Galle.

As the gunfire ends, Sri Lanka's property boom begins


Ruling party sweeps provincial election in Sri Lanka

Colombo - The ruling coalition convincingly won a southern provincial election on the weekend, largely due to the government's popularity for crushing the Tamil rebels earlier this year.

The United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) secured 67.88 per cent of the vote, while main opposition United National Party (UNP) won 25.09 per cent in an election where 67 per cent of the 1.7 million registered voters turned up for polling.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa had called on voters to endorse the war victory at the ballot box and be vigilant to not allow the rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to rise again.

Ruling party sweeps provincial election in Sri Lanka


Islamic Religious Observances to Mark Army 60th Anniversary Performed at Davatagaha Mosque

The Islamic religious ceremony to bless the Sri Lanka Army on its 60th Anniversary and the Army Day on 10th October took place on Monday (05) at the Davatagaha Jumma Masjid Shrine Colombo 2.

A series of religious observances coinciding with the 60th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Army commenced on Friday (02) with the Flag Blessing ceremony at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi Anuradhapura.

Commander of the Army Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya, Chief Guest at the ceremony lit the oil lamp and garlanded the holy place Ziyarath of Sheik Husman Valiyullah at the mosque before prayers were conducted by a section of Muslim maulavis, headed by Maulavi Rev. Sayed Hassan who commenced invoking blessings on the Army and its members.

Army Commander later on signed the VIP Book maintained in the mosque at the invitation of the Managing Trustee of the mosque Rev. Reyyaz M. Salley subsequent to Islamic religious rites.

The Davatagaha mosque religious ceremony was attended by, President Army Muslim Association Major General Abdul Zaheer, Senior Army Officers and members of the Army Muslim Association.

Sri Lanka Army


Russia will assist Lanka without conditions: Envoy

Colombo (PTI) Assuring that it will render unconditional assistance to Sri Lanka, Russia has said it always respected the national dignity and sovereignty of the country.

"My country supported Sri Lanka starting from its struggle for independence, in building its national economy and of course in its struggle against terrorism," Russian Ambassador to Sri Lanka Vladimir Mikhaylov said yesterday.

"We have always respected the sovereignty, independence and the national dignity of Sri Lanka and will render all possible assistance without any conditions," he said.

The Russian Federation provided Sri Lanka an aid worth USD 5.82 lakh including two mobile power stations, tents, blankets, food items like canned meat and canned fish together, medicines and disinfectants for the IDPs in the North.

http://www.zeenews.com/news569590.html

 

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Sri Lanka's path to peace

Amjad Saleem

After 26 years of war that cost thousands of innocent lives, the defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has brought Sri Lanka to a crossroads. Yet despite the government's victory, there has been widespread international criticism about how the war was handled. Success has come at a price in terms of destruction, death and the displacement of civilians. The number of actual deaths during the conflict, particularly in its last days, will never be known, despite many international attempts to hold the Sri Lankan government to task.

Despite the LTTE being widely praised in the Tamil diaspora as a "freedom fighting" organisation, it was one of the world's worst terrorist groups. It had perfected the art of suicide bombing and assassination, as well as engaging in the massacre of civilians from all communities, including Sinhalese and Tamils, and the ethnic cleansing of Muslim civilians from the north in 1990.

Sri Lanka's path to peace


Thailand to adopt Lankan strategy to deal with insurgents

Thailand is considering adopting the strategy used by Sri Lanka in dealing with Tamil Tiger rebels in its efforts to contain insurgency in the country.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday held talks with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Ratnasiri Wickremanayake on the Lankan government's success in putting down the LTTE, the Bangkok Post said in a report.

fullstory

Terror Victims Sue Hedge-Fund Founder

WASHINGTON -- A group of victims of terror attacks by Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers rebels filed suit against Raj Rajaratnam, the Galleon Group hedge-fund founder charged in an insider-trading case, accusing him of funding the Tigers'"crimes against humanity."

The suit was filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in New Jersey by 30 people who say they are survivors of attacks carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam during decades of civil war against the Sri Lankan government.

Terror Victims Sue Hedge-Fund Founder


Sri Lanka to Release Thousands of Tamil Refugees

By Anjana Pasricha

Over the coming weeks, the Sri Lankan government plans to release nearly 40,000 ethnic Tamils confined in military run-refugee camps. The first group has already left the camps. The government has also come under renewed international pressure to investigate charges of war crimes during the final stages of its military campaign to end a civil war waged by Tamil Tiger rebels.

Sri Lankan officials say a batch of 6,000 Tamils has left the country's largest refugee camps in the north to return to their villages. This is the largest single group allowed to go home since a military campaign to defeat the Tamil Tiger rebels ended this May.

Sri Lanka to Release Thousands of Tamil Refugees


Economy sprouts under guard in Jaffna

The highway is open, prices are up and business is growing in post-war northern Sri Lanka, but traders say a legacy of tight security left by a 25-year conflict is holding back the region’s full potential.

The northern Jaffna district has been all but cut off from most of Sri Lanka since war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatists broke out in 1983.

Now small-time traders and entrepreneurs, from paintshop salesmen to electronics sellers and fisherman, say sales have nearly doubled with eased restrictions and the opening of the main highway after the Tigers’ defeat in May.

The Tigers’ control of parts of northern Sri Lanka just south of military-controlled Jaffna meant that the peninsula and its namesake city were virtual islands — with goods only coming by boat or by air.
The military opened the main north-south A-9 road in July and is now permitting transport under close watch. All of Jaffna remains under military control.

“In bad times, I had to sell a kilo of grapes at Rs30... now I am getting a wholesale price of Rs200 per kilo,” K Devendrarasa, a 56-year old grape farmer, said.

Gulf Times


Sri Lanka: A tough war and a tougher recovery

COLOMBO, Oct 24 — For nearly seven decades K. Chathu Kuttan has held open the door at Colombo’s historic Galle Face Hotel for the great and the glorious. And the memories flood in as he gazes out on the Indian Ocean from his perch at the doorway.

Of huge wedding parties in the ballroom and of important visitors coming to check out the promise and pristine beauty of this emerald island.

Singapore’s Devan Nair. The tea party for 1,500 people when Jawaharlal Nehru visited Colombo, the special car for Queen Elizabeth. Emperor Hirohito, Richard Nixon, Sir Laurence Olivier, Bernard Shaw. The list of those he has welcomed runs on and on.

Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was known, was a different country then. That was before a quarter-century of ethnic blood-letting convulsed the land.

For the 89-year-old émigré from Kerala, whose late wife was a Tamil in a Sinhala majority nation, the prospects for a return to those happier days have never looked better.

Sri Lanka: A tough war and a tougher recovery

 

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Guests by the pool at the Galle Fort Hotel in Galle, Sri Lanka.

1. Sri Lanka

For a quarter century, Sri Lanka seems to have been plagued by misfortune, including a brutal civil war between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority. But the conflict finally ended last May, ushering in a more peaceful era for this teardrop-shaped island off India’s coast, rich in natural beauty and cultural splendors.

FULL ARTICLE: The 31 Places to Go in 2010 - New York Times

 

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Sri Lanka removed from war risk insurance list

June 11, 2010 (LBO) - London underwriters have removed Sri Lanka from the area listed for war risk insurance following lobbying by the island's government that risks have been eliminated with the end of the ethnic war.

A statement from the Joint War Committee in London said it recently reviewed the Listed Areas for Hull War, Strikes, Terrorism and Related Perils, last altered on March 11, 2010, and deleted Sri Lanka
.
"The application of this list on individual contracts will be a matter for specific negotiation," it said.

The rating is only a guideline published by the Joint War Committee of London underwriters.

The risk rating was reduced last year after the 30-year ethnic war ended in May with the defeat of Tamil separatists.

Since then the government has been lobbying insurers to remove the country as a listed area.

Lines which call Colombo regularly were not charged additional war risk insurance premiums in recent times.

But the government and shipping businesses were worried that the post-war economic revival could be affected if the island remained as a listed area for war risk.

Sri Lanka removed from war risk insurance list - LANKA BUSINESS ONLINE

 

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Playing with a full deck

Hindustan Times

New Delhi, June 11, 2010

Rajapaksa is widely hailed as the Lion of Sri Lanka, but perhaps foxy is a better description of his dealings both with his rivals and the great powers in the Asian region.

He is widely hailed as the Lion of Sri Lanka, but perhaps foxy is a better description of his dealings both with his rivals and the great powers in the Asian region. This was clearly on display during Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s recent visit to New Delhi, the first since his re-election earlier this year.

Rarely has a leader in the volatile South Asian region held all the cards as Mr Rajapaksa does today. While he always pays fulsome tribute to the relationship with India, he is equally lavish in his welcome to its traditional opponents like China and Pakistan. Of course, always with the caveat that he would never allow his country to be a staging post for anti-Indian activity.

Playing with a full deck- Hindustan Times

Sri Lanka urged to end strife

COLOMBO - SRI Lanka's army chief on Friday called for a political settlement to the island's decades-long ethnic strife, a year after the Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated in a major military offensive.

Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya warned that although the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were crushed following the offensive in May last year, rebel remnants could try to regroup.

'It is up to the government and the people now to find the root cause of the problem and give a proper solution,' Mr Jayasuriya told a meeting of businessmen in Colombo. Mr Jayasuriya took over as army chief in July, shortly after security forces killed the top leadership of the Tigers and ended their struggle for independence for the island's minority Tamil community.

Sri Lanka urged to end strife

 

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Sri Lanka, China Form Strategic Shield against the West

FRIDA GHITIS | WORLD POLITICS REVIEW

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- On a steamy afternoon in the Sri Lankan capital, if you glance across the water at Colombo's legendary Galle Face Green seaside promenade, past the spray of the Indian Ocean, you can make out a milky line of giant cargo ships at the point where the sky blends with the sea. That ocean traffic on the horizon, those dashes of gray steel, glide along the world's busiest sea lane, navigated by anywhere from 100 to 200 ships every day. This is the maritime pipeline that makes it possible for China to remain the world's fastest-growing economy. It is also the visible explanation for China's generosity toward Sri Lanka and a centerpiece of this country's vision for the future.

Sri Lanka, the small tear-shaped island at the foot of India, has always held a special place in the hearts of global strategists. In earlier centuries, Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial invaders sought to exploit its riches, but they also coveted the island for its location. Now, in what may become the Chinese Century, it is Beijing that has its sights on the country formerly known as Ceylon.

China's interest has been warmly reciprocated by Sri Lankan authorities, who see Beijing's embrace as the key to prosperity at a time when the West demands pesky human rights standards in exchange for its largesse.

While the West today is removing preferential trade treatment from Sri Lanka, citing its failure to cooperate with human rights investigations, Beijing is happily expanding its presence. Last year China became the country's biggest financial investor, and the level of cooperation is increasing by the day. Chinese businessmen and technical experts are a regular presence in Colombo's hotels, and government delegations make frequent visits. China is allowing Sri Lanka to develop its economy, while Sri Lanka is providing China with a key strategic position in the Indian Ocean -- one that could evolve into a political and even a quasi-military alliance.

Sri Lanka has become one of the beads in China's so-called "String of Pearls," a series of ports between the Persian Gulf and China that protect Chinese trade routes and create the foundation for what could become a series of bases for China's fast-growing navy.

In order for China to access the Middle East oil that fires the pistons of its economy, freighters carrying petroleum must slice through the Persian Gulf waters, sail within sight of Sri Lanka's shores, and make their way around Southeast Asia until they reach a Chinese port. Similarly, Chinese exports destined for Europe must reverse the route, passing near Sri Lanka on their way to the Red Sea, the Suez Canal, and the Mediterranean Sea. Freighters headed to the east coast of the United States, where hungry American consumers gobble up Chinese products, continue on to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Chinese presence in Sri Lanka has become inescapable. Strong bilateral relations are nothing new, but the ties have strengthened greatly since Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa came to office five years ago, and even more since his forces won an apparently decisive victory in the war against the separatist LTTE, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

That military victory against an organization that perpetrated acts of extraordinary brutality was widely cheered by Sri Lanka's majority Sinhalese -- as well as by large sections of the minority Tamil, who dreaded the extreme methods of the Tamil Tigers and breathed a sigh of relief at the war's end. But the victory came at a horrific cost to civilians.

As the controversial final offensive pushed relentlessly ahead last year, China blocked efforts to bring the matter to the U.N. Security Council. But China was already on its way to forging the alliance years earlier. In 2007, when Washington stopped direct military aid to Colombo on human rights grounds, China quickly picked up the slack, providing powerful new weaponry that made America's decision irrelevant. Chinese weapons played an important role in the government's ultimate success against the LTTE in 2009.

Sri Lanka has resisted international pressure to open itself to human rights investigations about what transpired during the final months of the war, when hundreds of thousands of civilians were displaced and thousands more are believed to have been killed. The U.N. launched such an investigation, charging some 7,000 civilians died as the fighting reached its final climax.

In order to pressure Colombo to allow a war crimes probe, the European Union last February threatened to remove favorable trade status. The threat failed to change the government's stance, and in August, Sri Lanka lost tariff preferences under the union's so-called Generalized System of Preference Plus.

Sri Lanka remains defiant in the face of Western pressure, partly because China's help is easing the pain. Authorities say the country received $1.2 billion from China in 2009 in the form of grants, loans and credits, constituting the majority of what Sri Lanka received last year and making Beijing easily the largest contributor among foreign countries and multilateral agencies.

Chinese funds built the gleaming convention center near the airport, but the most important project for both countries is the one under construction in the south of the island. The Hambantota deep-sea port, whose first phase was recently completed, is one the largest of China's String of Pearls ports. Its 55-foot depth makes it one of the deepest in the region. The joint venture, expected to cost $1.5 billion, will give China a place to dock its most massive ships and provides Sri Lanka with an opportunity to expand its position in international shipping. Sri Lanka aims to lure large ships traveling between Asia and the West to use the port for refueling and maintenance.

Other Chinese projects in Sri Lanka include a major power plant in the town of Norochcholai with a price tag of $1.35 billion, financed by Exim Bank of China. The first phase of the plant already went online. China is also engaged in a number of crucial and costly road-building projects, including one that would cut the travel time between Colombo and the main airport at Katunayake to about 20 minutes. It now takes between one and two hours, depending on the capital's unpredictable traffic congestion.

For Sri Lanka, the end of the war with the Tamil Tigers means a new era. Pressure from the West to look back at what transpired during the conflict, or at the cost civilians paid for that victory, are seen by the government as an affront to its sovereignty and an unnecessary rehashing of a necessary war. Instead of looking back, it prefers to look to the future. And a big part of the future can be seen from the country's shores, where the big Chinese ships dotting the horizon symbolize new opportunities for Sri Lanka.

WPR Article | World Citizen: Sri Lanka, China Form Strategic Shield against the West

 

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Sri Lanka Shuns West, Finds Solace in Emerging Powers’ Arms

By Amantha Perera

COLOMBO, Sep 8, 2010 (IPS) - The European Union’s decision to suspend trade preferences for Sri Lankan exports may have finally come into force, but the island nation is not budging an inch on any of the powerful bloc’s recommendations on its controversial human rights record.

On the contrary, Sri Lanka remains adamant about its position against the EU’s proposed measures concerning allegations of human rights abuses committed during the three decades-long civil war in the island nation that ended in May 2009. And President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration knows that it is not fighting a lone battle against the EU, having received support from emerging economies like China and India to withstand pressure from the western block.

On the same day the European body ended the Sri Lanka trade benefits on Aug. 15, Rajapaksa ceremonially released water into the newly built Chinese- funded harbour at Hambantota, a southern coastal city in Sri Lanka. The port was built to the tune of 360 million U.S. dollars, about 85 percent of which came from China.

While the EU and even the United States want Sri Lanka to address the human rights issues hounding it, China has called for more international support for the South Asian country.

During last month’s visit to China by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gamini Peiris, his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, said: "Countries big and small have their own problems, and it is important to remember that solutions have to be found to suit the circumstances of each situation in keeping with the wishes of the country in question without hectoring or pressure from outside."

Last month Sri Lanka forged an 83 million U.S. dollar-agreement with India to reconstruct a section of the northern railway left in tatters by the war that pitted government troops against the secessionist Tamil Tigers.

The two states had previously signed a similar agreement to rehabilitate another section of the same track worth over 140 million U.S. dollars. The commitments are part of a larger package worth 800 million U.S. dollars that India has pledged on concessionary terms to help rebuild the war-ravaged northern side of Sri Lanka.

"India remains committed to continuing its assistance to Sri Lanka as it undertakes the important and challenging task of reconstructing the Northern Province," the Indian Mission in Sri Lanka said when it announced the new funding.

India is also helping reconstruct houses destroyed in the north during the armed conflict. According to the U.N. India has pledged to build 50,000 out of an estimated 160,000 new houses.

Indian companies are also exploring prospects for expanding their presence in Sri Lanka. The Mahindra group, worth over 7 billion U.S. dollars, announced last month in Colombo that it was introducing new vehicle models into the Sri Lankan market while looking to set up an assembly plant in the country.

"Sri Lanka has been able to stave off pressure brought on by the EU and the western block because other countries like India and China have supported it, especially in the U.N.," analyst Jehan Perera told IPS.

for the whole article see: Sri Lanka Shuns West, Finds Solace in Emerging Powers’ Arms - IPS ipsnews.net

 

[samv]

Indian Army chief in Lanka on three-day tour

The army chief’s visit comes amid concerns over increasing Chinese presence in India’s periphery including Sri Lanka and Myanmar

New Delhi: Indian Army chief General V.K Singh began a three-day visit to SriLanka on Monday to enhance defence cooperation that had cooled during the island-nation’s bloody civil war in the face of domestic opposition.

The army chief’s visit comes amid concerns over increasing Chinese presence in India’s periphery including Sri Lanka and Myanmar and ahead of trips to Colombo by defence secretary Pradeep Kumar and foreign minister S.M. Krishna .

Singh, who was posted in Sri Lanka during the years the Indian Peace Keeping Force was deployed on the island to enforce a peace accord between the Sri Lankan army and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that was fighting for a separate state for the minority Tamils, started his visit by calling on Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse. He also met Prime Minister D.M. Jayaratne, minister of external affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris and secretary of defence Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, an Indian official said.

Besides Colombo, Singh will be visiting key defence establishments in Vavuniya and Indian de-mining projects in Omanthai in northern Sri Lanka -- the one-time stronghold of LTTE chief Prabhakaran who was killed at the end of the civil war last May -- the Island newspaper reported.

Singh will also visit military centres in east and central Sri Lanka besides meeting student officers at the Defence Services Command and Staff College in Sapugaskanda just outside Colombo, the paper added.

“India aims to maintain close, amiable and cooperative relations with Sri Lanka at both military and government levels,” a statement from Indian army headquarters in New Delhi said ahead of Singh’s visit.

The decision to normalise defence ties was taken during a visit by President Mahinda Rajapakse to India in June with a yearly defence dialogue on the cards. India was cautious in its defence ties with Sri Lanka while the conflict was on due to sympathy for the Sri Lankan Tamils in India’s Tamil Nadu state -- both communities sharing close cultural and linguistic ties.

An Indian Army official said the accent of the renewed cooperation would primarily be on training of officers. India has been training Sri Lankan officers at the Indian Military Academy in Dehra Dun and the National Defence College in Delhi. A resumption of defence exercises was also on the cards. Both sides will also exchange notes on counter insurgency procedures, given that Sri Lanka has just seen the end of decades of civil war and India is battling insurgencies -- from Kashmir in the north to Assam, Manipur and Nagaland in its northeast.

“Sale or transfer of defence hardware is, however, not on the cards yet,” the army official said.

India’s current wooing of Sri Lanka has a strategic dimension, say analysts.

“In the past few years we have lost ground to China, in Sri Lanka,” said R.N. Das, an expert on China affairs at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses think-tank. “This was due to domestic political reasons during the civil war.”

“When our engagement was lagging, Chinese presence in the form of investments has been increasing in Sri Lanka. With these visits -- by the army chief now, the naval chief was there in June and some others in the pipeline-- we are looking to regain lost ground,” Das added.

China has just finished construction of the first phase of a port at Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka that was handed over to the authorities last month. Reports say China has tied up with Sri Lanka for the second phase of the port project as well.

Officials in New Delhi dismiss the idea of the “encirclement” of India by China but the Indian military establishment has been taking note of deepening interaction between India’s neighbours such as Myanmar and China besides Sri Lanka.

Reports said Chinese ships made their first calls at Myanmarese ports last month while the Indian military has been noting increased Chinese involvement in infrastructure -- air fields across Myanmar besides an enhanced presence in the Indian Ocean region by the Chinese Navy.

The uneasy ties between India and China were buffeted last month when Beijing refused to allow an Indian Army general serving in Kashmir to visit citing the region’s disputed status. New Delhi has also expressed concern over the presence of Chinese troops in parts of the region claimed both by India and Chinese ally Pakistan.

Army chief in Lanka on three-day tour - Economy and Politics - livemint.com

 

[Hafizzz]

Sri Lanka shuns West, finds solace in East
Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan

With the European Union's decision to suspend trade preferences for Sri Lankan exports now in force, the island nation is demonstrating its refusal to budge on any of the powerful bloc's recommendations on its controversial human-rights record.

On the contrary, Sri Lanka remains adamant about its position against the EU's proposed measures concerning allegations of human-rights abuses committed during the three decades-long civil war that ended in May 2009. President Mahinda Rajapaksa's administration knows that it is not fighting a lone battle against the EU, having received support from emerging economies like China and India to withstand pressure from the Western bloc.

On the same day the European body ended Sri Lanka's trade benefits on August 15, Rajapaksa ceremonially released water into a newly built Chinese-funded harbor at Hambantota, a southern coastal city in Sri Lanka. The port was built at a cost of US$360 million, about 85% of which came from China.

While the EU and even the United States want Sri Lanka to address human-rights issues, China has called for more international support for the South Asian country.

During last month's visit to China by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Gamini Peiris, his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi, said, "Countries big and small have their own problems, and it is important to remember that solutions have to be found to suit the circumstances of each situation in keeping with the wishes of the country in question without hectoring or pressure from outside."

Last month, Sri Lanka forged an $83 million agreement with India to reconstruct a section of the northern railway left in tatters by the war that pitted government troops against the secessionist Tamil Tigers.

The two states had previously signed a similar agreement to rehabilitate another section of the same track worth over $140 million. The commitments are part of a larger package worth $800 million India has pledged on concessionary terms to help rebuild the war-ravaged northern part of Sri Lanka.

"India remains committed to continuing its assistance to Sri Lanka as it undertakes the important and challenging task of reconstructing the Northern Province," the Indian Mission in Sri Lanka said when it announced the new funding.

India is also helping reconstruct houses destroyed in the north during the armed conflict. According to the United Nations, India has pledged to build 50,000 out of an estimated 160,000 new houses.

Indian companies are also exploring prospects for expanding their presence in Sri Lanka. The Mahindra group, worth over $7 billion, announced last month in Colombo that it was introducing new vehicle models into the Sri Lankan market while looking to set up an assembly plant in the country.

"Sri Lanka has been able to stave off pressure brought on by the EU and the Western bloc because other countries like India and China have supported it, especially in the UN," analyst Jehan Perera told Inter Press Service (IPS).

The EU has accused Sri Lanka of violating international human-rights conventions that made the continuation of the trade concessions problematic. It has recommended certain measures to the Sri Lankan government to facilitate the reinstatement of the concessions under the Generalized System of Preference Plus (GSP+), a tariff reduction regime unilaterally granted by the EU.

In 2008, GSP+ was worth around $100 million, based on EU data. Expected to be hardest hit by the removal of the concession will be the 270,000-strong apparel sector, the country's biggest foreign exchange earner. Garment exports were worth more than $3 billion in 2009.

Government spokesperson Minister Keheliya Rambukwella told IPS that the conditions imposed by the EU on GSP+ renewal were an insult to the country. "It is nothing short of that," the minister declared soon after the EU recommendations were made public this year.

Just four days before the GSP+ suspension came into effect, the US released a critical report on actions taken by the Sri Lankan government on possible violations of human rights during the final phase of the bloody civil conflict.

"The principal measures the government of Sri Lanka has taken to investigate incidents of alleged violations of international law have been the appointment of two commissions, the Group of Eminent Persons and the Commission on Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation (LLRC)," the US State Department noted.

"The Department of State concludes that the Group of Eminent Persons was ineffective. The LLRC is less than halfway through its six-month term [it was established May 14, 2010]. Initial actions taken by the government of Sri Lanka, including aspects of the naming of commissioners and publication of terms of reference detailed in this report, have raised concerns regarding the LLRC's mandate and its independence," it said.

The government has assured the public that no jobs would be lost as a result of the EU's suspension of the GSP+ concessions. In fact, said Rambukwella, the government expected to increase foreign reserves to $7.5 billion by the end of this month. A strong currency and reserves on top of increased earnings from other sectors like tourism and foreign remittances would cushion any fallout from the GSP+ loss, he said.

Yet such assurances have not assuaged the fears of the workers in the apparel sector, said Achila Mapalagama, who heads Stand-up, a workers' rights campaign in the Katunayake Free Trade Zone just north of the capital Colombo.

"No one has a clear idea what will happen now that the concessions are gone. We will see within the next six months. For now there is a lot of fear," she said.

China (and Pakistan) will always be there to support Sri Lanka.