{"id":48168,"date":"2016-08-30T20:23:12","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T00:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=48168"},"modified":"2016-08-30T20:23:12","modified_gmt":"2016-08-31T00:23:12","slug":"mahinda-rajapaksa-was-very-close-to-new-indian-high-commissioner-taranjit-singh-sandhu-when-he-served-as-political-counsellor-in-colombo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=48168","title":{"rendered":"Mahinda Rajapaksa was Very Close to New Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu When he Served as Political Counsellor in Colombo"},"content":{"rendered":"

By
\nUpul Joseph Fernando<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sri Lanka media are keeping an intense watch on the Indian High Commissioner who has the capacity to change the Cabinet of Sri Lanka (SL). This is because India is also our neighbour. No sooner the name Taranjit Singh Sandhu was mentioned, and he was appointed as the new Indian High Commissioner to SL than the SL media, politicians and leading businessmen as well as the foreign diplomatic circles evinced a special interest and began inquiring about him.<\/p>\n

Every body’s attention was drawn to the period between 2000 and 2004 when he served as a Political Counsellor at the Indian High Commission in SL. That was the period when there was a political upheaval in SL. That is, a group including S.B. Dissanayake the Sri Lanka Freedom Party General Secretary crossed over to the United National Party to topple Chandrika’s Government in 2001, and when the ceasefire agreement was signed with the intervention of Norway. <\/p>\n

It was during the same period, Chandrika the President then, dissolved Ranil’s Government after taking under her three ministries including the Defence Ministry. Besides, that also marked the beginning of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Opposition Leader’s journey leading to Premiership.<\/p>\n

The moves made by the then Indian High Commissioner Nirupam Sen to oust Ranil’s Government were discussed via the media at that time, and in the book My belly is white the pressures exerted by the Indian High Commission were revealed by the Defence Minister, Austin Fernando, of Ranil’s Government.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Sandhu who was the Political Counsellor at the Indian High Commission then being sent now, as the Indian High Commissioner to SL when Ranil is currently the PM, is somewhat intriguing and baffling.
\nInterestingly it is Sinha who is the High Commissioner when Sandhu is arriving. Sinha was a diplomat who was longing for the defeat of the Rajapaksa Government which had close ties with China.<\/p>\n

In fact, pro-Mahinda groups, too, made allegations that India was behind the toppling of Mahinda’s Government, and this view was announced in public by ex-Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the brother of Mahinda. Yet, reports say, he is now seeking the assistance of India to install Mahinda as President again, and it is none other than Milinda Moragoda (who maneuvered to defeat Chandrika’s Government on behalf of Ranil earlier on) who is carrying messages on behalf of Gotabaya now to the Indian High Commission.<\/p>\n

Openly criticized<\/strong><\/p>\n

At any rate, the Indian High Commissioner has openly criticized the stance of Mahinda pertaining to the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement. In response to this Mahinda through Dr. G.L. Peiris and Wimal Weerawansa severely castigated the Indian High Commissioner, while making accusations that the Indian High Commissioner is interfering in the internal affairs of SL, and saying that he should be expelled from the country.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, it was Ashok Kantha who was the Indian High Commissioner prior to Sinha. Mahinda had issues with Kantha too. By mounting charges that Kantha was sending reports to India against SL, Mahinda drove himself into a deep quandary.<\/p>\n


\nSince the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987, it was Gotabaya who aggravated the animosity towards India, and it was he who distanced Mahinda from the Indian High Commission. Hence Gotabaya seeking the assistance of India now, to capture the President’s post again is nothing less than an unalloyed joke. Perhaps Mahinda must be thinking the appointment of Sandhu as a blessing in Mahinda’s favour. Mahinda became more close to Sandhu than even India when Sandhu was the Political Counsellor in the Indian High Commission. It was during that time Mahinda said, he wanted the Indian federal system and Indian intervention in SL instead of Norway’s intervention.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

India is sending Sandhu as the High Commissioner at a time when the Government of Ranil is following a policy that is embracing China and also the Western countries led by America, while at the same time taking precautions against antagonizing India. In 2002, too, Ranil’s Government maintained cordial ties with India. Yet, the South block of India was not in favour of Norway’s intervention.<\/p>\n

At that time Ranil’s Government apprised Indian PM Vajpayee of Norway’s intervention. Yet, until the South block alias Indian diplomacy unit which took decisions regarding SL toppled Ranil’s Government, Ranil was in the dark.<\/p>\n

Courtesy:Ceylon Today<\/em><\/p>\n

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

By Upul Joseph Fernando Sri Lanka media are keeping an intense watch on the Indian High Commissioner who has the capacity to change the Cabinet of Sri Lanka (SL). This is because India is also our neighbour. No sooner the name Taranjit Singh Sandhu was mentioned, and he was appointed as the new Indian High …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Mahinda Rajapaksa was Very Close to New Indian High Commissioner Taranjit Singh Sandhu When he Served as Political Counsellor in Colombo’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48168"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48168"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48168\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48169,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48168\/revisions\/48169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}