Strengthening Indo-Lanka relations

"The reasons why the text of CEPA (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement) could not be concluded in time for its signature at the SAARC Summit was because certain aspects in it needed to be more fully considered by some sections of the corporate sector" said Nihal Rodrigo, the moderator of the seminar on 'India-Sri Lanka Relations:2025'.

Rodrigo who is an Honorary Advisor (Foreign Relations) to the President and one-time Sri Lanka Ambassador to China said that extra time spent on the CEPA would be well worth it given the benefits it would bring to all concerned.

Renowned Indian economist, Seshadri Chari stated that certain monitoring and regulatory processes within the Sri Lanka business sector is a cause of concern as implementation is not enforced properly. In addition to this, there have been fears that CEPA will give advantage to Indian professionalism by flooding the Sri Lankan market thus robbing the local talent of their jobs. Moreover, there are no proper control or suitable mechanism with which to determine what type of investment Sri Lanka really needs which has been the result of the FTA where Sri Lanka still does not have proper mechanism to measure usage of it.

Past President of the National Chamber of Exporters, D. Kulatunga Rajapaksa said that the CEPA was not signed because the views of key stakeholders in the Sri Lankan business community weren't effectively taken into consideration.

Governor of the Central Bank, Ajith N. Cabraal said "Since India is Sri Lanka's neighbour and likeliest partner we should invest wisely by moving together because India on par with international standards that can even rival that of China". Former Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, N. N. Jha said that the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord should have been signed with LTTE leader Prabakaran and Sri Lanka's former President J.R.Jayewardene with India as a moderator and not India and Sri Lanka signing it on a problem faced by Sri Lanka.

The seminar was conducted in four sessions that included Historical and Cultural Ties of the Past, Present and Present where discussions took place that introductions to all the religions of India and Sri Lanka are taught in every school curriculum to promote understanding. The sessions after that included Economic and Trade Relations, Social and Political Relations and the Lessons Learnt and Future Vision.

It was observed with various discussions by the participants that by signing the CEPA agreement, benefits will accrue. (N.D.)