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Happy note in Indo-Lanka ties

India's eagerness to see a resumption of the negotiatory process towards peace in Sri Lanka, comes as a timely morale-booster. It comes at a time when there is understandable anxiety in some quarters on the future of Sri Lanka. The Indian wish comes also at a time when the goodwill of Lanka's closest neighbours is mattering considerably for the onward march of the country.

By expressing India's keenness to see a resumption of the peace process in Lanka, Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has reassured Sri Lanka of India's continued and vibrant support for our peace effort. The warm welcome extended to visiting Lankan Premier Mahinda Rajapakse by the Indian Government, speaks volumes for the fraternal ties which exist between the countries.

It is needless to elaborate afresh on what India's assistance and moral backing means to us in our search for peace. Except for a few years in the mid Eighties when Indo-Sri Lanka relations took on a troubled complexion on account of the then Lankan rulers' short-sighted policies and actions, India has been vigorously supportive of our peace efforts. She has been consistent and clear in her position that she would be fully supportive of a just peace which meets the legitimate aspirations of all our communities, within an united and territorially undivided Sri Lanka. This much is crystal clear, whatever India's detractors in this country may allege.

A test of Lanka's regional diplomacy is to work in close cooperation with India while furthering our's and India's national interests. As long as we relate to India within this framework there is unlikely to be any hiccups in our ties. India will remain a firm supporter of peace in Sri Lanka within these parameters, and work actively towards peace promotion here.

We urge the Lankan Government to continue this bridge-strengthening policy, for it would gain us nothing to deviate from it. In fact it should be as broad-based as possible and we are glad that new vigour is being injected into our Free Trade Agreement with India.

These ties are expected to be expanded into a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement between the countries. As explained by our High Commissioner to India, Mangala Moonasinghe, this agreement would help in cementing social and economic relations between India and Sri Lanka.

Living in peace and amity with our neighbours should be a cornerstone of our regional policy. Economic and trade ties are same of the keys to progress in the area of enhancing regional amity.

Thus consolidating friendly ties with our neighbours emerges as a top priority. It is our hope that Indo-Lanka ties would gather strength from this policy.

ID, please

An act of terrorism is always deeply disturbing, but some of the facts gleaned from the obligatory investigation that follows can be even more unsettling.

The recent suicide bomb explosion at the Kollupitiya Police Station shocked the Nation. Investigators have now uncovered evidence that the bomber had a forged National Identity Card (NIC) with her. Worse, they have found that she had received the assistance of some employees of the NIC office to get the forged ID card. Legal action is being taken against them.

This revelation has far reaching repercussions on our national security. It means that hundreds of genuine-looking forged ID cards could possibly be in circulation. This poses a great danger since the NIC is often literally accepted at face value at most checkpoints, government establishments and private institutions.

The NIC, first issued in the early 70s, has become the most vital document that one could possibly possess. It is supposed to establish your identity beyond any reasonable doubt. But the whole purpose of having a NIC system is negated if it can be forged with or without the help of insiders. Tight security and confidentiality should prevail throughout the process of issuing NICs. The cards themselves must be tamper-proof.

Although the present NIC has many security features, these may not be enough in the years ahead. Many countries are moving towards chip-based ID cards that store all vital information - name, digital photograph, address, occupation, blood group, contact telephone numbers and even medical history.

These facts can be instantly verified by law enforcement and medical personnel (in case of an emergency) using compact data readers. It is virtually impossible to forge and change these cards. There is a debate as to whether such cards breach privacy rights, but security considerations are equally important.

In the long term, the Department of Registration of Persons will have to consider such a system. In the meantime, it should eliminate all possibilities of ID cards being forged with inside help and strive to enhance security aspects of the card.

The Daily News on Friday quoted the Commissioner of Registration of Persons as saying that no applicant should go behind middlemen to get their NICs. This is a timely warning.

Increasing the efficiency of the Department is another priority. The Department already issues over 400 NICs per day and has introduced a special one-day service. Nevertheless, it is essential to ensure that the information provided by the applicants is accurate, so that the NICs themselves would be one hundred per cent authentic.

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