Course correction

Prof. Ashwani Sharma, Associate Professor in International Relations at the University of Delhi and short-term Chair of Centre for Contemporary Indian Studies, (CCIS), University of Colombo, says that the new administration has corrected its course with regard to Indo-Lanka relations and are closer than ever before.

by Manjula Fernando

Prof. Ashwani Sharma Photo: CCIS

Q: Despite proximity, relations between Sri Lanka and India had never been smooth. How do you view Sri Lanka-India relations in the current political context with two new leaders in both the countries?

A: There have been three significant developments that would shape the Indo-Sri Lankan relations in the short as well as long term. First, the civil-war in Sri Lanka has come to an end. Second, the new governments are in place, in India and Sri Lanka. Third, there has been a paradigm shift in global politics.

Ending of the protracted war in Sri Lanka has created space and resources for sustainable peace, economic growth and development, and for engagement with India on economic as well as geostrategic issues.

The most important issues for addressing are reconciliation and development. There are three dimensions: political, economic, and socio-psychological.

The political dimension relates to devolution of power to the provinces, including Northern and Eastern Provinces. Economic dimensions relates to development of infrastructure and smooth transition to faster growth and development of the war-torn areas. Third is the socio-psychological - perhaps the most important and most difficult aspect in the reconciliation process.

Sri Lankan Government has to address the issue of ethnicity and identity and instill confidence in the minds of people to ensure their integration into the mainstream is easier and smooth. India has been playing an active role in helping Sri Lanka address all the three aspects.

The new administrations have a fresh outlook and new ideas about bilateral relations. India was the first foreign country that President Maithripala Sirisena visited after becoming the head of the State and government. It was a very significant gesture that he chose India as the destination for his first bilateral visit.

Arguably, the visit raised hopes of a new era of rigorous and dynamic bilateral relations between the two countries. It also raised hopes of a 'course correction' in Sri Lanka's foreign policy towards a balance in its relationship between India and China.

In was in this context that new initiatives were taken by the two leaders to accord a new direction to the bilateral relations. Four agreements were signed during President Sirisena's visit to India. The most salient one: civil nuclear cooperation between the countries.

It envisions 'exchange of knowledge and expertise, sharing of resources, capacity building, and training of personnel in peaceful uses of nuclear energy'. The significance of this agreement emanates from the fact that Sri Lanka preferred India over China and Pakistan for nuclear cooperation.

Equally important is that the two countries also agreed to expand defense and security cooperation. The third agreement deals with cooperation in culture and would enable Sri Lanka to participate in the Nalanda University project. The fourth: cooperation in agriculture.

In addition, there were two other significant developments in bilateral relations. First, the two countries have decided to resolve the 'fishermen issue.' The process has already begun through the fishermen to fishermen dialogue with senior representatives of the two governments facilitating it.

The proposal presented by the Indian fishermen is being discussed by President Sirisena with the Chief Minister of Northern Province, MPs of Tamil National Alliance and Sri Lankan fishermen associations.

As the bilateral relations atmospherics are excellent, the two new administrations may succeed in resolving the long standing issue of fishermen. During the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister's visit to New Delhi in January, 2015, the two foreign ministers agreed to re-engage on the important issue of the repatriation of Sri Lankan refugees, currently in India. The talks between the officials of the two countries have already begun, which is a very positive development.

Economic security has not displaced military security but has eclipsed it in strategic calculations of foreign policy responses in international relations. As a result, regions with growing economic strength are increasingly becoming salient in foreign policy matrix of nation-states. In sum, economic issues are considered as 'high politics'.

Appreciation of the shift in paradigm has changed the foreign policy orientation of all the major countries in the world, including India and China. India is encouraging Sri Lanka to widen its sphere of economic cooperation with India. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 2000 in goods has increased trade between India and Sri Lanka manifold. It is logical and appropriate to graduate to Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) as it will facilitate trade in investment and services. Both the countries stand to gain if trade in investment flourishes.

Q: Sri Lanka had always been cautious of India's style and level of influence. Do you think Prime Minister Modi's soft-power diplomacy will be a good strategy to regain Sri Lanka's dented trust?

A: The concept of 'soft-power' was introduced by Joseph Nye, a US academic, years following the end of the cold-war. 'Hard-Power' had run its course to the detriment of nation-states. As the US and other western countries were yet not willing to give up the use of hard power in international relations, various permutations and combinations of hard power and soft power were conceptualized to maintain US hegemony in the world.

Soft-power can be defined as the ability of a nation-state to achieve the policy outcomes by persuasion, rather than by force and coercion. Compared to hard-power, soft-power may take much longer to have the desired effect.

Soft-power has a unique place in Indo-Sri Lankan relations for a variety of historical and cultural reasons. First, almost all the Sri Lankans consider India as their second home. Buddhists perceive India as the birth place of Lord Buddha and source of Buddhist philosophy and influence. Almost all the Sri Lankan Buddhists cherish the desire to visit Bodh Gaya at least once in their lifetime. Tamils also look upon India as their second home and trace their origins to Tamil Nadu.

Second, the 'Bollywood' and to an extent Tamil cinema - are the second most important source of soft-power relationship between the two countries. A substantial population of Sri Lanka can understand and speak some/many words of Hindi language because of Bollywood's unique soft-power.

The recent musical concert by Shreya Ghoshal, a famous Bollywood movie singer, in Colombo was held not in an auditorium but in an open air arena to cope up with the overwhelming response from the people in Colombo. Jacqueline Fernandez is the Sri Lankan ambassador to the Bollywood. Because of their mass appeal, Bollywood stars are be used also for electoral politics in Sri Lanka.

Third, there is a substantial section of the Sri Lankan educated middle class which has had some exposure to institutions of higher education in India. Over the years, many institutions in India have acquired a reputation of excellence. Many Sri Lankans have either studied in these institutions or visited them. They often come back with additional knowledge as well as good memories, contributing to soft-power relations.

Fourth, the Indian civil society has grown as an important influence in the democratic set-up of India. The civil society has raised the profile of Indian liberal democracy.

The Right to Information (RTI) Bill was passed in India in 2005 due to civil society activism. It has its impact on Sri Lanka in terms of influencing change. The National Movement for Social Justice in Sri Lanka led by led Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera resonates of Anna Hazare Movement in India.

Fifth, some of the business enterprises in India (Such as Infosys, Tata Consultancy Service (TCS), and Tata Motors (of Nano fame) have become iconic business enterprise across the world for their ethics, values, innovation and commercial viability.

These companies have an impact on business leaders and business environment in Sri Lanka.

Sixth, development assistance and deeper economic cooperation also constitute soft-power. Indian development assistance across sectors of the Sri Lankan economy has been steadily increasing over the years. FTA provided a big boost to trade between India and Sri Lanka.

Now, there is a gradual move towards Comprehensive Economic Program Agreement (CEPA) which has the potential of boosting trade in investment. Comprehensive growth in economic relations is indeed a very effective instrument of soft-power.

Bilateral relations based more on soft-power are more enduring than those based on the dominance of hard-power. With the paradigm shift in global politics from geo-politics to geo-economics, the focus of foreign policy orientation of nation-states is shifting in favour of soft power. More of foreign policy objectives can be achieved through soft-power or a combination of soft and hard power, in an intensely globalizing world.

Good Indo-Sri Lankan relations primarily based on soft-power also augur well for regional security. Because of the paradigm shift in global politics, the concept of security is also undergoing radical change. The old conceptualization of security as 'military security' is being re-conceptualized into 'military and human security.' In this re-conceptualization, human security is accorded higher salience as many times more people die in this world due to lack of human security (hunger, diseases, natural disasters and so on) than in wars.

Q: Following Prime Minister Modi's visit to Jaffna, an official Chinese think tank claimed Modi's visit amounted to interference. What is your take on it?

A: The 'Official Chinese think tank' you refer to appears to be a very 'unthinking think tank'. Going by the same convoluted logic, President Srisena's visit to South India in February, and that of Sri Lankan Prime Minister to South Indian state of Kerala recently, would be construed by the same think tank as gross interference in India's internal affairs.

Premier Modi visited the Northern Province with the concurrence of the Sri Lankan Government for an inauguration ceremony of the Northern Railway line and to oversee development projects funded by India. It ought to be construed as a positive step towards reconciliation and reconstruction rather than interference.

Q: Although it was decimated, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is still a matter of great concern for both the countries. LTTE has a significant support base in Tamil Nadu. Do you think India will be more successful in managing this issue under Premier Modi?

A: The focus of the Sri Lankan Government should be to bring about speedy reconciliation and reconstruction in the war-ravaged areas. Revival of livelihood of the people, generation of employment through reconstruction of infrastructure and industrial development, devolution of more powers to the regions, and most importantly - providing psychological support to civil war- affected populations through education - would go a long way in making the process of reconciliation very effective.

It would instill a sense of security in the minds of those people and help them integrate into the mainstream of the Sri Lankan social system.

It would motivate people against any revival of LTTE. In sum, the remnants of LTTE base in India and Sri Lanka would erode even more with speedy reconciliation and reconstruction process. This would also enable both the governments to constrict the support base of LTTE or even wipe it out.

Q: Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has alleged that a RAW agent masterminded his electoral defeat and had brokered a deal between UNP and President Maithripala Sirisena, ahead of the January election. How credible is this claim?

A: In my view, corruption, nepotism, lack of transparency and accountability in governance and authoritarian tendencies were the fundamental causes for the defeat of Mahinda Rajapaksa this January.

These serious democratic deficits led to a silent and unspoken understanding between the vibrant middle-class, robust media, and civil society in Sri Lanka to change the regime for a more democratic, transparent, accountable, and corruption-free governance. Social media also played an important role in the change in regime.

Blaming RAW for electoral politics engineering and bringing about regime change would be an affront to the socio-political intelligence of Sri Lankan people.

Sri Lankan has had a vibrant democracy for decades and has successfully created strong democratic institutions, traditions, and values. Importantly, Sri Lanka has also been successful in inculcating the spirit of democracy amongst its people. This indeed is not so common in South Asian countries.

Q: The debate on a floating armoury owned by a private party, allegedly under the auspices of Sri Lankan Navy, ruffling feathers in New Delhi?

A: The 'Galle floating armoury' is owned by a private company known as Avant Garde Maritime Security Service (AGMS). The country of origin of AGMS is not known. It appears that the floating armoury was established by AGMS with the approval of the Sri Lankan Navy in October, 2012, to provide safety to foreign long liner fishing vessels in the Western Indian Ocean against sea pirates.

It is owned by AGMS but managed jointly by AGMS and Rakna Arakshakha Lanka Limited (RALL) - the government- owned security company - and the Sri Lankan Navy supervises the operations of the armoury.

Such floating armouries can create considerable disquiet in the region as they can be a source of potential threat to regional security. Therefore it is important that such commercialized security ventures by Sri Lanka should be undertaken with the concurrence of the regional countries.

Q: China is a vital development partner and a historical bi-lateral ally for Sri Lanka. Isn't it asking for too much, when India seeks Sri Lanka to distance itself from China?

A: Yes, asking Sri Lanka to distance itself from China will be 'asking for too much.'

On the contrary, what is perhaps 'not asking for too much' is the balance in relationship of Sri Lanka with India and China. India has had historical and cultural ties with Sri Lanka which can be traced back to about 3000 years.

India and Sri Lanka also have deep soft-power relations which are not entirely subject to the control of the two governments. It is the people of the two countries that have a major say on soft-power relations.

India is the third largest economy in the world and also the second fastest growing economy. The economic growth in India is increasing and while that of China is decreasing.

The international economic organizations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, forecast that the Indian economy will overtake the Chinese economy by the next year or so.

Therefore, deeper comprehensive economic cooperation with India can be immensely beneficial for Sri Lanka in the short as well long term.

India is Sri Lanka's closest neighbour. Stronger geopolitical and geostrategic ties between the two countries can be of immense mutual benefit for regional security. India is also capable of fulfilling the defense requirements of Sri Lanka.

Q: Due to its geographical placement, Sri Lanka finds itself sandwiched between two regional superpowers, China and India. Do you agree this cause tension for Sri Lanka?

A: I wish I could change geography and make all nation-states in the world of equal size, and also endow them with equal natural resources! I can't.

Under the circumstances, it would be best for Sri Lanka to maintain a balance in relationship between India and China. It is also equally important for Sri Lanka to strike a balance between geo-politics and geo-economics in its foreign policy focus.