By Col R Hariharan |Times of India, Chennai | June 14, 2021
The
enactment of the Colombo Port City Commission Act in Sri Lanka last month, has
created a lot disquiet and dismay among the people on both sides of the Palk
Strait. There has been a lot of hype in the media about increased Chinese
threat to South India as a result of China gaining control of the special
economic zone coming up in the Colombo Port City (CPC), overlooking Colombo
port.
In
the next two decades, the CPC is poised to grow into full maturity as an
international financial hub like Dubai and Singapore. The only difference is,
the state-owned China Harbour Engineering Co (CHEC), a subsidiary of the China
Communications Construction Company, holding a 99-year lease on 85 percent of land will be calling the shots.
Apprehension
about CPC is real, not merely for South India, but India as a whole. Of course,
commercially Colombo port is important because nearly 70 percent of India’s
container traffic passes through it. In strategic situations, Chinese presence
close to it would make a difference. But, more than that, the CPC legitimises the
huge presence of multifaceted Chinese interests -trade and commerce, logistics,
communication and finance and infrastructure.
This
gives China a big advantage in challenging India’s domination of the Indian
Ocean Region (IOR). It will also enhance China’s ability to use its unmatched
money power, to progress its influence in India’s neighbourhood in the name of
development aid.
Many
Sri Lankan leaders are equally worried about the increasing Chinese influence
in Sri Lanka. The Archbishop of Colombo,
Cardinal Malcom Ranjith obviously referring to the CPC Commission enactment
expressing his concern said, “development is not selling the country’s
resources…. the politicians are responsible for protecting the country. Please
do not offer our land to different countries.” Former President Ms Chandrika
Kumaratunga had warned that Sri Lanka “has all but become a colony of China.”
The
SEZ will confer not only commercial and financial benefits to China. But it
will augment its intelligence and counterintelligence operations to eaves drop
and interfere with Indian communication, track warship movements, enhance cyber
threat and satellite tracking. And more than all this, the SEZ can be a useful
take off point for infiltrating agents acting against Indian interests. In the
past, Pakistan had used its high commission in Colombo to infiltrate Pak agents
and terrorists to South India. The Southern states in particular will have to
tighten their coastal and airport security to prevent such efforts.
Sri
Lanka unique geographic location, midway astride the sea lanes of Indian Ocean,
makes it an essential part of China’s maritime security architecture in the
Indo-Pacific. China’s concern about Indian Ocean countries joining Quadrilateral
Security Dialogue (Quad) framework of the US, India, Japan and Australia has
been increasing. The China-centric Quad aims at ensuring a free and open
international order based on the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific.
China’s State Councillor and defence minister General
Wei Fenghe briefly visited Dhaka and Colombo towards end May, when a political
controversy was raging in Sri Lanka over the draft CPC Commission bill. After meeting with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Gen Wei remarked peaceful development and
win-win cooperation is the global trend and ‘right way’ forward. Without
mentioning the Quad framework, he said certain major countries were keen to
form cliques and factions and seek regional hegemony, which goes against
peoples shared aspiration and severely harms the interests of regional countries.
He had made a similar reference during his meeting with Bangladesh President
Abdul Hamid, emphasizing that the two sides should make joint efforts against
powers outside the region setting up military alliance in South Asia and
practising hegemonism.
It is
obvious Sri Lanka would come under tremendous pressure from China in the coming
months in tandem with the criticalities of Indo-Pacific strategic situation. Under
such circumstances, it is going to be extremely difficult for President Rajapaksa
to resist the lure of the yuan, when Sri Lankan economy is struggling to manage
its mounting debts.
India and Sri Lanka have good
understanding of each other’s security concerns. According to Sri Lanka foreign
Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage’s statement in November 2020, President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa has made it clear that Sri Lanka’s strategic security policy
will have an “India first” approach, though Colombo was dealing with other
countries for economic development. But such sentiments did not prevent Colombo
going back on its commitments to India, whether it is on jointly developing the
Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) or other projects hanging fire like strategic
development of Trincomalee port.
India should be prepared for dynamic changes in the trilateral relations involving Sri Lanka and China. As China firm up its presence within the CPC, we can expect it to increase its influence with the body politics of Sri Lanka. It is poised to become an indispensable part of the part of the party politics, similar to a position India had occupied some years back.
Obviously, India cannot compete with China’s money
power and its development forays in Sri Lanka have only succeeded in patches.
But it can use its strength in shared history and culture with Sri Lanka. In this regard, India has not used the
potential of cross strait relations among Tamils to Sri Lanka’s advantage, ever
since the muscular intervention during PM Rajiv Gandhi era.
(The writer is a former MI specialist on South Asia.
He served as the Head of Intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri
Lanka (1987-90).)
No comments:
Post a Comment