Opinion - Editorials

New links but old shadows

THE STRATEGIC VALUE of a new economic bond seems to have been recognised by India and Sri Lanka as they try to push their relationship to a qualitatively higher pitch at this sensitive moment in bilateral interactions. While the initiative for such a new strategic dividend has come from Sri Lanka, India seems to have found it sensible to reciprocate with enthusiasm. The latest visit to India by the Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has helped generate ideas about prospective economic linkages that might well redefine the bilateral ambience for the future. However, the two neighbours will at present remain locked in a political equation that centres on Sri Lanka's quest for a final settlement of its internal ethnic conflict that often bristles with the overtones of a civil war. Relevant to the current Sri Lankan peace process, which is being "facilitated" by Norway, is New Delhi's willingness to encourage Colombo to negotiate with the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Now, even as New Delhi and Colombo seek to reinvent their economic relationship in this new context, the old shadows will remain as long as the LTTE leader, Velupillai Prabakaran, stays a fugitive from the due process of law and justice concerning the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. While there is no question that New Delhi should not resile from its demand for the extradition of Prabakaran in this regard, the real test of statesmanship is how well India and Sri Lanka can resolve the issue in a manner that could improve and not diminish their growing entente.

Of all the building blocks that India and Sri Lanka seem to have mobilised for a new economic relationship, the most striking one is the move to expand the existing free trade agreement. At a different level, which requires sensitive bilateral cooperation, lies Colombo's decision to move forward and let the Indian Oil Corporation distribute petroleum products in Sri Lanka and operate the oil tank network at Trincomalee. The area itself lies at the perimeter of the theatre of a prolonged confrontation between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan military forces. Arguably, this aspect should not be a major constraint at this time of moves by Colombo and the LTTE to settle their many disputes. India's technical capabilities are also beyond the pale of any doubts whatsoever. Yet, the real political issue at stake as regards this project has much to do with Sri Lanka's natural inclination for a degree of strategic autonomy on matters concerning its mammoth neighbour. It is against this psychological backdrop that Mr. Wickremesinghe is now eager to engage India in ways that could seem extremely beneficial to the Sri Lankans themselves. Definable, too, in these terms is the latest bilateral agreement to study the feasibility of the Sri Lankan proposal for a bridge between the two countries.

Mr. Wickremesinge's latest visit to India, the second such diplomatic exercise in recent months, has certainly given currency to a new idiom in the bilateral sphere — economic integration. In a sense, the idea of a mutually reinforcing economic diplomacy from either side is not really new. It dates back to the time when sub-regional economic linkages were first visualised within the larger South Asian forum. For New Delhi, the success of any such project involving Sri Lanka can serve as a testament to India's good neighbourliness in a volatile region. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, seems to have calculated that the beneficial effects of a new economic linkage with India might enhance the level of political confidence in each other over time. However in the long run the political durability of the India-Sri Lanka entente will depend on how issues such as Mr. Prabakaran's terrorist culpability are addressed by both sides. A complete clarification of Norway's willingness to promote Colombo's dialogue with a terrorist organisation may also help.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• New links but old shadows
• The tuberculosis time bomb
• Dialogue, state and utopia
• Carving a path to Hindu rashtra
• Kalam as President
• People's choice
• Right for him?
• Election or selection
• Right to education
• POW of 1971
• Ambiguous rules
• No justification

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu