Can India safeguard its national security by weakening Sri Lanka’s national security?
We often hear Indian leaders pressurizing Sri Lankan leaders that Sri Lanka’s foreign policy must ensure the security interests of India. At no point in time has Sri Lanka ever thought or even planned to threaten India in any way. In fact, it has been none other than India who has compromised its own security.
It was India who decided to train Sri Lankan Tamil youth to become militants & fight Sri Lankan government passing pillow of likely self-determination quest commencing from Tamil Nadu. Eventually, this backfired to not only result in LTTE killing an Indian Prime Minister, but even taking on the Indian army until the IPKF was asked to unceremoniously leave Sri Lanka. Eventually, the LTTE that India thought it could control became fostered by Western interests & functioned to Western geopolitical agendas. It was the colonials who transported mainly Tamils to all corners of the world including Sri Lanka under “settler colonization” & these are the same entities today demanding self-determination in both Tamil Nadu & Sri Lanka plucking clauses from the West controlled UN.
When Sri Lanka was forced under virtual duress to sign the Indo-Lanka Accord, merge the North East as one administrative unit, bring a constitutional amendment (13th) and turn Sri Lanka into a quasi-federal state, as well as through Rajiv Gandhi’s letters to the then President commit Sri Lanka to not allow US ships or US military or US voice of America in Sri Lanka, that scenario since 1987 has changed to India becoming best of friends with the US post 2015 & even becoming a QUAD strategic partner. Nevertheless, this partnership has of late been waning with the unexpected regime change in Bangladesh together with US funding of all types of Islamic militants even inside India, now set free to cause calamity in nations where US propose to destabilize. India looks to be a key target.
Who invited this trouble-maker to Asia? None other than India. Therefore, India has much to answer for all the problems South Asia is currently witnessing.
If India has been following the US envoy in Sri Lanka closely, she has been specifically targeting Tamil communities breaking each down into segments that US can influence. Of course, this will pose challenges to Sri Lanka, but it is India that will have to face the eventual tune.
India may well have mastered the art of destabilizing its neighbors but has India thought about how destabilized neighbors will impact India in return? What is India’s contingency plan in such a scenario?
With US influence over Tamils, Muslims & segment groups of Sinhalese, how far will their loyalty tilt in favor of India? Already the Northern Tamils are showing growing dissent over Indians bullying them, while many Indians now residing in Sri Lanka have displayed open arrogance, sufficient for people to easily oppose ECTA or any other connectivity with India. If ties between US & India are now on the decline, India will know that any animosity brewing against India will be elevated with the support of US. So much for strategic partnerships!
Be that as it may, inspite of the lofty Arkhand Bharath greater India agenda, how far will this converge with the West’s plan to create balkanize India, create pro-West buffer micro-states, (what US eyes in Sri Lanka’s North & East) India cannot ignore the rising Christian political dominance in Tamil Nadu where the BJP political presence is fast declining.
What signal or message was delivered using Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday attacks & by whom to whom?
The West has been able to penetrate to South Asia societies using several of its foot soldiers – the Church, Christian-NGOs, USAID-NRI-IRI-NED led public programs which also target key segments of society – judges, lawyers, key public servants, media, civil society leaders, professionals and now they have managed to penetrate to nationalist organizations as well. A green card, scholarships, western training, jobs & promotions can easily swallow the prey & people who lack integrity & patriotism. The same elements are operational across India & in particular Tamil Nadu as well.
Thus, how far will forcing Sri Lanka to hold provincial council elections be of any advantage to India at this point in time? The Sri Lankans who can comprehend the larger picture can see that the risk of losing part of its island to the West or India looms with the holding of PC elections, but does India think that it can secure the North or East of Sri Lanka or both when even Tamil Nadu can easily be influenced away from India’s Central Government? Just as India’s Centre played Tamil Nadu card against Sri Lanka, the West has penetrated the model & can do the same against India. Let us not forget the North Indians hate South Indians & vice versa. How US legally slapped Modi’s best friend Adani is a case in point!
It is also important to note that while the LTTE only hijacked the quest to separate Sri Lanka from the Tamil politicians who had been moving for this even before independence, these Tamil politicians are now working hand in glove with LTTE Diaspora who are all operating from the West & are obviously working to Western geopolitical goals. The Himalayan Declaration is obviously one such initiative which has managed to hire a few men in Buddhist robes to give it the air that the Buddhists are agreeable to separating Sri Lanka, which is hardly the case. Therefore, India may well be able to dictate to Sri Lanka’s Tamil politicians but their overall preference has always been West-inclined given that they have families living in the West & they are treated well by the West, therefore India would only be fooling itself to think these Tamil politicians are working in India’s interest. They will only do so, so long as they personally benefit. In fact, they may even be wooed by the Chinese using this same premise too.
Therefore, by forcing Sri Lanka to hold PC elections thus opening the doors to secessionism is not going to be safeguarding India’s security, it will in fact speed up India’s disintegration. Is this a risk India wishes to take? Of course, how many of Sri Lanka’s foreign ministry hierarchy or even the present political set up understand the dynamics at play to even advise India of the likely scenarios, is left to be seen, however, at this juncture Sri Lanka does not need to hold provincial council elections primarily because it is a waste of public money, all these years the country has functioned without the PC’s operating and the nation can be saving a lot of money completely doing away with the PC system altogether.
India’s national security has been compromised by its own short-sighted foreign policy, made with intent to destabilize its neighbors & bully them but backfiring on India to eventually weaken & make India itself vulnerable.
It is for India to decide whether it wishes to continue to weaken its neighbors/Sri Lanka & destabilize its own turf or help strengthen its neighbors/Sri Lanka’s national security without attempting to federate Sri Lanka allowing the enemy to use this turf to eventually balkanize India.
It is for India to decide if it wants to head for trouble by weakening Sri Lanka via holding of PC elections & encouraging the Eelam project by Tamil politicians & LTTE Diaspora.
Shenali D Waduge
