Sri Lanka is engaging more with China on both the economic and military fronts
HONG KONG: India may be at risk of crossing a dishonourable milestone in its relations with Sri Lanka. And in the process, it may be rolling out the red carpet for China to waltz in and enhance its level of engagement with the island-republic.
India’s National Security Adviser MK Narayanan recently appeared to lay down the rules of the game for Sri Lanka in respect of its arms procurement, when he said that Lanka should not look to China or Pakistan for its arms procurement, but should instead come to India.
That statement and the underlying “big brother tone”, notes a diplomatic observer, will have exactly the opposite effect. “It’s got the Sri Lankans’ backs up, will have the inevitable effect of driving them further into the sphere of influence of China.”
From all accounts, that process is well under way — on both the economic and military fronts. Just last fortnight, Sri Lankan authorities began construction work on a new deep-water port in Hambantota on the southern coast: the $360 million project is being built with Chinese help, including a subsidised loan for about 85% of the project cost.
And international defence journal Jane’s Defence Weekly reported recently that Sri Lanka had signed a $37 million deal for supply of ammunition and ordnance from Poly Technologies, a subsidiary of China International Trust and Investment Corp. Although this isn’t the first defence deal that Sri Lanka has had with a China entity, it is significant insofar it reflects an unwillingness on the island government’s part to be “kept on hold” by India in securing its defence procurement needs.
The observer pointed to a “glaring anomaly” in India’s terms of engagement with Sri Lanka on defence procurement issue. “It’s a dog-in-the-manger attitude: on the one hand, India isn’t ready to give Sri Lanka the ‘offensive’ weapons it needs to combat Tamil Tiger militancy; on the other, it wants Sri Lanka not to secure its needs from elsewhere.”
The reason why India has been less than responsive to Lanka’s needs is, of course, that it is sensitive to the political sensibilities of its coalition partner in Tamil Nadu, the DMK. The DMK disfavours a relationship that would help the Sri Lankan armed forces secure weapons that could be used against Tamils.
China’s attempts to outflank India diplomatically in South Asia may bear fruit if the relationship with Sri Lanka intensifies, the observer reckons. The irony is that India’s own attitude and swagger may be having the effect of pushing the Sri Lankan lion further into the dragon’s arms.
