{"id":46124,"date":"2016-04-10T18:35:14","date_gmt":"2016-04-10T22:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=46124"},"modified":"2016-04-10T18:35:14","modified_gmt":"2016-04-10T22:35:14","slug":"will-sri-lanka-become-a-puppet-regime-of-the-us-like-philippines-and-many-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=46124","title":{"rendered":"Will Sri Lanka Become a Puppet Regime of the US Like Philippines And Many Others?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nBy<\/p>\n

Lasanda Kurukulasuriya<\/strong><\/p>\n

The red-carpet welcome accorded to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Beijing on his just-concluded official visit, and the understandings reached, send a reassuring signal that China continues to be an all-weather friend to Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n

This is in spite of the uncertainties that characterized the relationship during the 2015 presidential election campaign when the yahapalana camp engaged in anti-China rhetoric and Chinese-funded projects came in for some flak. <\/p>\n

Alongside reports of renewed goodwill, what do we make of the Prime Minister\u2019s remarks at a naval officers commissioning ceremony in Trincomalee days before his departure to Beijing? In this speech he calls on the SL Navy to ready themselves to \u2018protect international trade routes from the Maldives to the Straits of Malacca\u2019 \u2013 clearly aligning himself with US strategic interests in the region. <\/p>\n

The position he articulated here cannot be viewed as being politically neutral. The US\u2019s policy of re-balancing its forces (\u2018Pivot to Asia\u2019) involves a shift of the US\u2019s strategic focus in order to contain the rise of China. During his visit to Colombo in May last year US Secretary of State John Kerry asserted that \u201cthe United States is already providing leadership on maritime security in the Indian Ocean in association with close friends and allies across the region.\u201d And the UNP-led government is eager to fall in step, it appears. Given the huge disparity in power between the two navies it\u2019s obvious who would be calling the shots in any envisaged cooperation. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

It\u2019s relevant to note that the PM\u2019s comments come in the wake of the Indian government having ruled out participating in joint patrolling in the Asia Pacific region as suggested by the US. According to reports India also declined to participate in a quadrilateral dialogue along with Japan and Australia, proposed by US Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris who was in Delhi last month. The purpose of the exercise was to counter China in the South China Sea. With the regional power India demonstrating caution, is Sri Lanka \u2018rushing in where angels fear to tread?\u2019 <\/p>\n

Wickremesinghe in Trinco went on to say that Sri Lanka would have to buy more ships, planes and weapons so that the Navy could fulfill this new \u2018duty.\u2019 Does this suggest not only that he expects the country to surrender its sovereignty to support the ambitions of the world\u2019s sole superpower, but that he is ready to subsidise that project as well? The implications of this speech do little to reinforce the Prime Minister\u2019s own utterances relating to Sri Lanka\u2019s friendship with China.<\/p>\n

Whether the PM\u2019s pro-US inclinations have the endorsement of the president or reflect the views of the coalition government is not clear, given the contradictory remarks made by the country\u2019s president, prime minister and foreign minister at different times, in different places. Where the US is concerned however, there is little doubt that its motives in relation to Sri Lanka are strategic. Sri Lanka was mentioned by the US PACOM chief Harris in his statement before the US\u2019s House Armed Services Committee in February, where he said:<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven Sri Lanka\u2019s strategic location, it is in America\u2019s interest to increase military collaboration and cooperation. As conditions permit, USPACOM will expand military leadership discussions, increase Naval engagement, and focus on defence institution building in areas such as demobilizing and military professionalism.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nWhy \u2018demobilising?\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n

In view of this reference by US PACOM\u2019s chief, Prime Minister Wickremesinghe\u2019s repeated hints about the need to demobilise Sri Lanka\u2019s armed forces now appear in a new light. The question arises as to whether pressure is being brought to bear on him in this regard. We may recall that during Kerry\u2019s visit last year Wickremesinghe wrote to Chief of Defence Staff Jagath Jayasuriya and the three Service chiefs to \u2018advise\u2019 them of Kerry\u2019s proposed new role for the Sri Lankan military, of protecting Indian Ocean sea lanes and in UN peacekeeping operations. The 2015 US-led Human Rights Council resolution against Sri Lanka also aims to emasculate the forces, if not discredit their singular achievement of ending the scourge of terrorism. While it is rational to re-define the role of troops in peace-time, isn\u2019t it the prerogative of the sovereign state to decide on all aspects of that exercise, based on national interest, and without outside interference? <\/p>\n

In spite of the clearly strategic orientation of US interests in Sri Lanka, the docking of the flagship of the US 7th fleet, USS Blue Ridge in Colombo two weeks ago drew little media attention. Senior military leaders of the two countries met on board the Blue Ridge \u2018to discuss operational issues\u2019 according to a statement from the Commander, 7th Fleet. The term \u2018operational\u2019 would suggest something more than joint exercises. <\/p>\n

At a reception aboard the war ship US Ambassador Atul Keshap had said he hoped \u201cthis would be the first of many war ships to come.\u201d In Sri Lanka few were even aware that President Maithripala Sirisena toured the vessel, which was in port from 26-31 March. It\u2019s interesting that Thomas Shannon, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs observed not just once but in two separate speeches during a visit in December that Trincomalee had \u2018one of world\u2019s finest natural deep water ports.\u2019 The string of visits to Sri Lanka by US officials who, on arrival, make a bee-line to Jaffna and Trincomalee, should by now have given a clue to the nature of the US\u2019s heightened interest in this previously unimportant island.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat better base for the USA\u2019s massive 7th Fleet than the natural harbour of Trincomalee?\u201d said LSSP leader Tissa Vitharana in a statement published in The Island expressing concern over the PM\u2019s speech in Trinco. \u201cSri Lanka too will become a puppet regime of the USA, like the Philippines and many others \u2026\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Vasudeva Nanayakkara, leader of the Democratic Left Front told the Daily Mirror \u201cHow can Sri Lanka protect international navigation unless there\u2019s a tie-up with a very powerful navy \u2013 the support of the 7th fleet, who will ultimately use Trincomalee as a base.\u201d <\/p>\n

Nowadays the US secures its interests abroad discreetly, through agreements signed by friendly states of their own free will rather than military occupation. The Government needs to be more cautious in its utterances about arrangements with the US in military matters, and more transparent about agreements. It took 10 years for the US to \u2018come close\u2019 to signing a logistics agreement with India that would allow the two countries\u2019 militaries to use each other\u2019s resources for refuelling and repairs, according to a New York Times report of 2.3.16. While the yahapalana government continues to pay lip service to Non-Alignment, it would appear that those principles are being dangerously undermined behind the smokescreen of its muddled foreign policy. <\/p>\n

Courtesy:Daily Mirror<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lasanda Kurukulasuriya The red-carpet welcome accorded to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in Beijing on his just-concluded official visit, and the understandings reached, send a reassuring signal that China continues to be an all-weather friend to Sri Lanka. This is in spite of the uncertainties that characterized the relationship during the 2015 presidential election campaign …<\/p>\n

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