Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena stressed that Sri Lanka’s biggest asset is its strategic location and the prime interest of the Government is to keep the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace for free commercial navigation. The country has no interest whatsoever to get involved in regional or international power games. Sri Lanka treats every nation as a friend, while zealously guarding the sovereignty and independence of the country.
In his first interview to a foreign news service, Prime Minister Gunawardena told Tomomi Asano of the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun that since ancient times the ports in Sri Lanka were popular with commercial vessels of the traders and the country continued to provide facilities to vessels from all corners of the world. Even today, vessels of many countries call on Sri Lankan ports and occasionally there are Naval crafts calling on for replenishments, joint military exercises or on friendly calls. During all these Sri Lanka strictly maintains the condition that such visits are not directed against the interests of a third country as Sri Lanka strictly adhere to its policy of neutrality.
 Tomomi Asano of the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun clicking a photo of Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena during the interview. |
This policy has displayed its practicality once again, when there were some apprehensions about the entry of Chinese satellite tracking ship Yuan Wang 5 to Hambantota Port and those fears were smoothened by frank discussions with all the parties concerned.
Though the permission was given in June 2022 for the vessel to enter the Port on August 11 and remain until 16th, Sri Lanka requested for its deferment as it was essential to sort out reasons with India and the United States regarding their expressed concerns. The positive outcome of high level official consultations resulted in solving those issues and then it was intimated to China that the vessel could enter Hambantota Port on August 16. The talks succeeded as there is a very good understanding between Sri Lanka and its immediate neighbour India as well as the United States.
The friendship and cooperation with India was further stressed when Vice Chief of the Indian Navy Vice Admiral SN Ghormade came to Colombo earlier this week to hand over a maritime surveillance Dornier aircraft to the Sri Lankan Navy. The aircraft was provided to Sri Lanka from the inventory of the Indian Navy to help the country meet its immediate security requirement. The Indian Navy has already provided extensive training to a team from Sri Lanka Navy and the Air Force to operate the maritime surveillance aircraft.
Indian media, quoting highly placed defence source, said, “Sri Lanka has been a key partner of India and we will continue to expand our bilateral defence cooperation in the months and years to come.” The source added that the participation of President Ranil Wickremesinghe at the handing-over ceremony, was a clear signal about expanding strategic ties between the two countries. India will provide to Sri Lanka two Dornier aircraft which were being manufactured by the Government-owned aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Limited.
At the handing-over ceremony President Wickremesinghe thanked India for gifting a Dornier aircraft to enhance Sri Lanka Navy's maritime surveillance capabilities and bolster the India-Sri Lanka defence ties. He said that history has brought both nations together like two sides of the same coin and the two countries must forge ahead together. “This is the start of cooperation between our Air Force, Navy and Indian Navy in maritime surveillance.”
The aircraft will be flown and maintained by 15 Sri Lanka Air Force crew who were specifically trained in India for four months. The team consists of pilots, observers, engineering officers and technicians. They will be supervised by the Indian technical team attached to the Sri Lanka Air Force. The team would undertake comprehensive supervision of aircraft, airframe, aircraft support equipment, ground support equipment, and relevant documents and would ascertain the serviceability of all the assets.
Indian defence sources said it was significant that the Dornier was handed over to Sri Lanka a day before a high-tech Chinese satellite tracking ship docks at Hambantota Port.
The world's attention to foreign vessels and aircraft entering Sri Lanka in the last few days did not limit to the Chinese vessel and Indian aircraft. Pakistan's newly-commissioned Chinese-built frigate PNS Taimur docked at the Colombo Port on last Friday for a couple of days and a section of Indian media inaccurately reported that the vessel took part in Sri Lanka-Pakistan joint ‘war games’.
Immediately Sri Lanka Navy rejected the fallacious media reports that it was holding war games with a Pakistani warship docked at the Colombo Port but confirmed that it would hold a “Passage Exercise” in the Western seas with PNS Taimur as it leaves the port. Sri Lanka allowed PNS Taimur to make a port call in Colombo while on its way to join the Pakistan Navy fleet after the Bangladesh Government denied it permission to dock at Chattogram Port as August is a month of mourning for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as her father, Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman was assassinated on August 15, 1975.
Indian defence analysts are of the opinion that there was no need for India to worry about the entry of Chinese ships to ports in South Asia. Two analysts, Sameer Patil and Don McLain Gill argued that the unfolding situation may impede China’s intent to increase its regional strategic influence and power projection. In an article in Diplomat magazine, they argued that critical indicators of the strategic influence of an extra-regional power lie in its ability to sustain bilateral military exercises and operationalize defence cooperation with regional states.
“While China has emerged as a major arms exporter to the region (primarily Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar), it has not been able to expand military exchanges and other facets of defence cooperation with South Asian states,” Patil and Gill said in a joint write-up.
Citing India’s growing material capabilities and its geographic proximity, the regional experts said most South Asian states too have found it prudent to not overtly engage in actions with extra-regional states that may directly upset the regional balance of power. “Therefore, China’s attempts to convert its growing presence into strategic influence to offset India’s leadership role in the region received a setback,” they said.
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena emphasized the importance of ties with India last week. “The deep, longstanding ties between our two countries have promoted our common strategies for development and enriched our cultures”, he said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Anniversary last Monday. “We are also bound by the common beliefs of peace, harmony and solidarity of the region and world at large,” he said.
Our strong partnership – built on the foundation of shared democratic values has never been more important, Prime Minister Gunawardena said and assured, “We look forward to continued close cooperation to build better, safer and more prosperous lives for the peoples of our two countries.”
Add new comment