By
Upul Joseph Fernando
The Editor of the Indian Express newspaper Shekar Gupta interviewed then President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2008 in which Mahinda made very interesting observations. Mahinda claimed the Indo-Lanka Agreement signed in 1987 was the best solution to the ethnic crisis and praised the introduction of the 13th Amendment as also the best solution and noted that former Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi had thought wise in 1987 ( two decades before that interview) to propose a viable solution.
This is what Mahinda told Shekar in brief about the IPKF presence in Sri Lanka following the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord: “President Premadasa committed a grave error by demanding the withdrawal of the IPKF. It soured Indo-Lanka relations. The Sri Lankan community should have been thankful for the services rendered by the IPKF. They sacrificed their lives for the unity of Sri Lanka. If the IPKF was permitted to stay a bit longer, we would have gained victory? But Premadasa succumbed to the pressure mounted by southern extremists and sent the IPKF away”.
The same Mahinda Rajapaksa attacked and criticized the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987 and the IPKF as an Opposition MP on 26 May 1989 in Parliament in the following manner; “The IPKF had been brought here. The country has experienced many problems as a result of its presence. The IPKF was brought to suppress the Northern people, kill the Tamils and Muslims, violate their fundamental rights and that scenario had spread to the South (interruptions by the government benches). Read this Amnesty International report. It says…’ In late 1987 there were increasing allegations that members of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) deployed in the North and East as part of the July peace accord were responsible for rape and other acts of brutality against Tamil civilians'”.
Continuing his speech Mahinda charged that the IPKF which was brought here as a peace keeping force was raping innocent women in those areas.
Opposition Member (in support of Mahinda): Not a peace force but a sex force…
Mahinda Rajapaksa: Yes, the IPKF had turned an Indian Sex Force. They are raping women there. They must be indulging in rape for women to give birth to Indian nationals in the North in the future. People are killed and women are raped in the North. See what’s happening in the South? When the southern youth rise against such brutality in the North, they are being burnt on tyres.
Free Trade Agreement with India
‘ETCA drawn up in a manner similar to CEPA is harmful to the interests of Sri Lanka. Even 15 years after signing the Free Trade Agreement with India, the main commodity Sri Lanka exports to India is areca nut’,
– Prof. G.L. Peiris (08.02.2016 Mawbima).
The same Prof. G.L. Peiris who was aware of that agreement signed in 1998 and noted it would open investment opportunities to Sri Lankans in India when he was Trade Minister in 2008, today laments that only areca nut was the main export item to India under that agreement. It is crystal clear that GL and the Joint Opposition brew hatred against ETCA as they adopt double standards and speak with double tongues. Those who raised their hands in favour of CEPA at that time today oppose ETCA. And, they are the people who are inciting the professionals against ETCA. Come what may, the Joint Opposition is today playing part two of their theme in 1987 ‘First nation, Next workplace’.
They set the country on fire using the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987 to send J.R. Jayewardene home. Now they must be thinking they could send JR’s nephew Ranil home by opposing ETCA. Can they do it? It’s too early to predict.
These incidents of the past can be recalled like how Mahinda gave testimonials to Shekar Gupta praising the IPKF which he once opposed in 1989, how he built a monument to salute the IPKF presence in Jaffna when he was President and how so called patriots like Wimal Weerawansa embraced that monument with open arms.
Therefore, those who criticize ETCA today may build monuments to praise ETCA in the future. That is how some ‘patriots’ play double games and speak with double tongues.
J.R. Jayewardene signed the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987 using his intelligence in a farsighted manner. He viewed the northern war as a cancer. He knew that the war was a creation by India. JR also knew that the air drop of food by India which opposed the completion of the Vadamarachchi war was an indication that India would never allow him to end the war.
JR decided to place the flesh of the pig on its own body and then cut it. In that way, he got India to destroy the Tamil Tigers, who were nurtured by India herself, by signing the Indo-Lanka Accord.
The SLFP and the JVP were well aware of JR’s stance. They feared that if the IPKF ended the war, JR would continue to lead the country. They also feared that if it happened, they would lose chances of coming to power. Hence, they depicted a picture that Provincial Councils would divide the country. They created a fear psychosis countrywide to instill fear in the minds of Provincial Council election candidates and labelled them as traitors. They also boycotted that Provincial Council election. That was in 1988.
In 1993, the SLFP set aside its shame and contested the provincial polls. The JVP contested the provincial polls in 1999 abandoning their stand adopted in 1987 which was against the Indo-Lanka Accord that created provincial system of polls. Chandrika Kumaratunga and the SLFP managed to raise heads in 1993 because of the provincial system of elections embedded in that Indo-Lanka Accord. People like Wimal Weerawansa too surfaced in 1999 thanks to the provincial system of polls.
Mahinda Chintana manifesto of 2005
Manhinda and Wimal who opposed Indian mediation in 1987 ended Norway’s mediation in 2005 and sought a mandate to involve India as mediator in 2005. The Mahinda Chintana manifesto of 2005 states that peace would be restored in the country with Indian mediation and also development here would be done with the participation of our big neighbour India.
However, in the 2010 presidential election Mahinda Chintana manifesto states on page 5: “Globalization offers Sri Lanka many opportunities and challenges. Trade agreements with regional nations like India, Pakistan and others would promote our export sector, investment and technology to reap benefits’.
Mahinda Chintana manifesto in 2010 proposed many trade and other agreements with India not without future plans. It was Mahinda’s government which first initiated the plan to sign CEPA with India in 2008. It was Mahinda’s Trade Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris who represented Mahinda’s government at talks with India and drafted the CEPA. GL made the following observations at a seminar attended by Indian representatives which was reported in ‘The Island’, 13 July 2008. The newspaper report stated:
“Professor G. L. Peiris, Minister of Export Development and International Trade, had discussions on the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with a delegation representing the Government of India. India’s High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, Alok Prasad, Commerce Secretary of India G. K. Pillai, Joint Secretary of India’s Department of Commerce Rajeer Kher, Counsellor (Economic and Commercial) of the Indian High Commission in Colombo Santosh Jha and Director, Department of Commerce, India, Rajeer Kumar, participated on the Indian side. Assisting Minister Peiris at the discussion were S. Ranugge, Secretary to the Ministry of Export Development and International Trade and Gomi Senadheera, Acting Director Genral of Commerce. Addressing a seminar at Hotel Taj Samudra on the CEPA initiative, in which India’s Commerce Secretary G. K. Pillai also participated, Prof. Peiris said that Sri Lanka had embarked on a number of regional and bilateral trade liberalization programmes to integrate its economy with the global economy.
Sri Lanka has made efforts to build stronger economic and trade links with its neighbours, particularly the members of SAARC, the Minister said. These initiatives have been instrumental in securing greater markets for domestic business, and helped them gain access to lower-cost goods and services, while improving the relationship and level of co-operation in the region. Prof. Peiris observed that the Indo-Lanka Free Trade Agreement, entered into in 1998, integrated the largest economy in the region with our own. Foreign trade, as a proportion of GDP, is barely one-fifth in India as opposed to three-fourths in Sri Lanka. However, despite the economic asymmetrics between the two countries, one of the reasons for the success of the FTA is the appropriate special and differential treatment accorded to Sri Lanka, he noted. Unilateral liberalization of Foreign Direct Investment led to substantial Indian investment in Sri Lanka in such areas as health, hotels, air travel, banking and distribution. Since 2002, the largest number of tourist arrivals has been from India, he said. Investment flows between the two countries are no longer a one-way street, Prof. Peiris said. Sri Lankan enterprises have undertaken significant investment projects in India in ventures producing confectionery, apparels, pre-fabricated furniture and stainless steel. “Prominent among these are initiatives by Brandix, which is investing 650 million dollars in the Visakapatnam project.”
Encouraged by the successful implementing of the FTA, Sri Lanka and India began negotiations directed towards expansion of the relationship from commodities to services in August 2004. Thirteen rounds of discussions at official level have taken place, Peiris said. He said that investment liberalization under CEPA, properly structured, will be beneficial to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka requires a high level of foreign direct investment inflows to bridge the projected gap of 4% of GDP between national savings and investment to achieve an annual economic growth rate of 8-9%, in the long term. The Minister noted that the liberalized investment regime will attract more capital inflows from India to Sri Lanka, resulting in technology transfer, employment generation and trade expansion”.
GL who spoke comprehensively in favour of CEPA as Mahinda’s Trade Minister now speaks with a different tongue on ETCA which is more favourable and beneficial to Sri Lanka. Is it GL’s ‘Tale of Two Tongues’?
Courtesy:Ceylon Today