Category: Sri Lanka

Categories
-Top News Sri Lanka

SL general public to get jabs from March

vaccine jabs

Sri Lanka began vaccinating its frontline workers late last month after receiving 50,000 free Oxford-AstraZeneca-Covishield vaccines from India….reports Asian Lite News

The general public in Sri Lanka will get coronavirus vaccinations from the first week of March, State Minister of Primary Health Care Sudarshini Fernandopulle on has said. The vaccination drive will be starting with people above the age of 60 years.

Sri Lanka began vaccinating its frontline workers late last month after receiving 50,000 free Oxford-AstraZeneca-Covishield vaccines from India.

Sri Lanka has so far recorded and over 69,000 Covid-19 cases and 356 deaths.

Fernandopulle said the general public will be inoculated against the disease from next month. She said the drive will start with people over the age of 60 years and people in the workforce aged between 30 and 60 years.

As of now, 1,60,000 frontline workers, including police and military personnel, have been vaccinated so far, Fernandopulle said.

Apart from the vaccine gift from India, a consignment of vaccines would arrive in the island in early March through the COVAX international initiative. Sri Lanka will also import another 3 million vaccine doses from India.

The government also announced that 4,000 vaccination centres would be set up throughout the country as part of the nationwide inoculation drive. Of these, 2,000 will be operated daily where 300 people could be vaccinated everyday, according to reports.

Also read:Mass rallies continue in Myanmar despite ban on gatherings

Categories
-Top News China Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka falling deep to China’s googly

A U-turn on the Colombo port’s East Container Terminal and then an attempt to create negativity around the India-supplied Covid-19 vaccine signals that there could be more powerful forces than just mere trade unions and some local groups which are nudging Sri Lanka to adopt an aggressive stand against India right now…reports Ateet Sharma.

Experts believe that Sri Lankan government’s decision to scrap an agreement with India and Japan to jointly run the East Container Terminal in the Lankan capital is a result of persistent external pressure applied by China which has developed high stakes in the country through its expansionist and debt trap Belt and Road Initiative.

It isn’t just about going back on its word in a Memorandum of Cooperation signed between the three countries in 2019. Efforts are also being made to give a spin to India’s noble gesture of donating five lakh doses of Covishield Covid-19 vaccine under the ongoing ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative.

The Island reported that Ravi Kumudesh, President of the College of Medical Laboratory Science, has urged the government to give general public an access to “the most suitable” Covid-19 vaccine instead of the ones sent by India. Kumudesh questioned the decision of National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) to only register Covishield vaccine.

“Given that the Medical Research Institute (MRI) only checks documents, there can’t be a reason for the delay in registering other vaccines. We are glad that India gave us some vaccine doses for free, but we can’t just import more of the same without a proper study,” he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

Sri Lanka

The statement would certainly disappoint India considering that in spite of a massive number of requests received from all over the world, the Narendra Modi government had prioritised Sri Lanka for the supply of the Indian vaccine and sent the first consignment of 5,00,000 doses as Indian grant on January 28.

The developments also raise a concern if the island nation, having already ceded control of its strategic port of Hambantota to China, is taking orders from Beijing, fulfilling its global agenda by becoming its pawn.

China has greatly enhanced its access to the Middle East through Pakistan’s Gwadar port and continues to play dangerous games in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) through its various projects, not just in Lanka but also Bangladesh (Chittagong and Mongla), Maldives (Feydhoo Finolhu Port), Myanmar (Kyaukphyu) and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

While Japan, which too has provided continuous support for the development of the Port of Colombo since the 1980s and also that of Port of Trincomalee, has reportedly “regretted” the Rajapaksa government’s move to scrap the deal, India is still hoping that Lanka would adhere to international commitments and reconsider its decision.

Not just as a part of the ongoing vaccine diplomacy, India had made its intentions of developing a closer bond with its neighbour clear with two high-profile visits to Colombo in the last few months to set the stage for an increased bilateral cooperation.

While National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had met all the key stakeholders in the island country on the sidelines of the NSA-level meeting on Trilateral Maritime Security Cooperation last November, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar also paid an official visit to Sri Lanka from January 5-7 January at the invitation of the Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Dinesh Gunawardena.

Apart from holding talks with his counterpart, Jaishankar also discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues with Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa.

During his three-day visit, the minister had also made a strong pitch for Tamil reconciliation by meeting the Tamil leadership — delegations of Tamil National Alliance (TNA) and Tamil Progressive Alliance — in Colombo.

Yesterday, in a statement made in Rajya Sabha on the talks held between the two countries, the EAM reiterated that the Government of India has consistently called upon Sri Lanka during bilateral discussions at all levels to fulfill its commitments on addressing the issues related to protecting the interest of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

This, the minister said, was done during the visits of President and Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to India in November 2019 and February 2020 respectively and during the recently held India- Sri Lanka Virtual Bilateral Summit on September 26, 2020 between the two Prime Ministers as also his own visit earlier this month.

“It is in Sri Lanka’s own interest that the expectations of the Tamil people for equality, justice, peace and dignity within a united Sri Lanka are fulfilled. That applies equally to the commitments made by the Sri Lankan Government on meaningful devolution, including the 13th Amendment to the Constitution,” said Jaishankar.

Jaishankar’s statement assumes a great significance in the prevailing circumstances.

While Beijing has only taken advantage of its strategic location in the Indian Ocean, India has for last many decades played a major role in promoting peace and socio-economic development of Sri Lanka.

Much before the Chinese arrived, India batted for the strengthening of the regional connectivity which was a key to the peace and prosperity of the entire region.

All of it, and not just the freedom of the high seas and maritime order based on the rule of law but also Lanka’s political and economic development, will be in a grave danger if the current regime continues to fall to China’s googly.

Irrigation tunnel

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has inaugurated the construction of an irrigation tunnel to be undertaken by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd (CSCEC), local media reported.

On Friday, President Rajapaksa laid the foundation stone at the groundbreaking ceremony for the 28 km-long irrigation tunnel which stretches from Elahera Konduruwewa to Palugaswewa Mahamigaswewa and passes through three wildlife sanctuaries, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rajapaksa with Jaishankar

The tunnel is part of the North Central Province Maha Ela Project to divert excess water from the Moragahakanda and Kalu Ganga reservoir.

Construction is estimated to cost $244 million and is financed by the Sri Lankan government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

South Asia General Manager of CSCEC Wang Zhouya told Xinhua that the tunnel would be the longest irrigation tunnel in Sri Lanka and help mitigate droughts and floods while providing water for agriculture.

Also Read-Beijing’s plans to browbeat India, US

Categories
Asia News Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Covid cases surpass 50,000

The official figures showed that out of the total 50,229 positive patients, 43,267 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing down the active patient count to 6,715…reports Asian Lite News

The total number of Covid-19 cases in Sri Lanka has surpassed the 50,000-mark, after over 600 new patients tested positive in the last 24 hours, according to the statistics from the country’s Health Ministry.

The official figures showed that out of the total 50,229 positive patients, 43,267 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospitals, bringing down the active patient count to 6,715, Xinhua news agency.

A total of 247 deaths have been reported from the virus in the country.

Sri Lanka is presently facing a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic with three parliamentarians, including one cabinet minister, being infected with the virus in the past days.

According to officials, at least 32 parliamentarians are under isolation for coming in contact with the three legislators during parliamentary sessions held last week.

Earlier on Wednesday, health officials conducted PCR tests in the parliament premises where legislators and parliamentary staff members were tested for the Covid-19.

Officials said PCR tests will be conducted on Friday as well in order to reopen Parliament for sessions next week.

On Wednesday, Sri Lanka reported the first case of the new strain of the Covid-19 which is fast spreading in other countries after a British national who recently arrived in the island nation tested positive, the Health Ministry said.

The Ministry urged people not to panic, saying the patient had been under quarantine and had not come in contact with society.

Also read:Ethnic Rift: India’s backing essential for Sri Lanka

Categories
Asia News India News Sri Lanka

Ethnic Rift: India’s backing essential for Sri Lanka

The new cycle of inter-ethnic tensions once again reinforces that Sri Lanka and India have a shared interest in preventing an uneasy situation from getting out of hand. Sri Lanka needs India’s support to bridge its ethnic divide between Tamils and the majority Sinhala community, reports Atul Aneja

The destruction of a war memorial in Jaffna University, followed by a decision to restore it, has yet again exposed the uneasy relationship between ethnic communities, and the need for Sri Lanka to heal from within.

On January 3, Jaffna University authorities decided to raze a war memorial commemorating the Tamil bloodbath during the last phase of the three-decade-long civil war that ended in 2009. The memorial was a reminder of the killings of Tamils at Mullivaikkal, a small village in the northeast coast of Sri Lanka.

In the late hours on January 9, several students as well as the mayor of Jaffna, Vishwalingam Maniwannan, protested outside the gates of the University, around 300 km north of Colombo.

The new cycle of inter-ethnic tensions once again reinforces that Sri Lanka and India have a shared interest in preventing an uneasy situation from getting out of hand. Sri Lanka needs India’s support to bridge its ethnic divide between Tamils and the majority Sinhala community. New Delhi’s backing would be essential for preventing the re-emergence of Tamil Nadu as a rear base for ethnic Tamils, if the internal situation inside Sri Lanka turns really ugly.

Already, the move to demolish the memorial has triggered a firestorm in Tamil Nadu, where most residents share ethnic ties with Sri Lankan Tamils. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu E.K. Palaniswami took to Twitter to strongly condemn the demolition and said: “The news that a monument erected at the Jaffna University campus in memory of university students and the general public who were mercilessly killed in the final phase of the war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, has been demolished overnight is shocking,” ANI news agency reported.

“I strongly condemn this act of the Government of Sri Lanka which has caused great pain to the Tamils of the world and to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jaffna who accompanied it,” Palaniswami said in another tweet.



Meanwhile, the incident evoked strong reactions from other leaders in the state, including Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and opposition leader and DMK President MK Stalin.

“This despicable act of racism is highly reprehensible. I strongly condemn this unacceptable act,” Panneerselvam wrote in a tweet.

Stalin also took to Twitter and condemned the move. “My strongest condemnation for the demolition of the Mullivaikkal memorial at the University of Jaffna, following the demolition of the traditional monuments of Eelam Tamils! @PMOIndia Condemn this shocking incident! This is the expectation of the Tamils of the world,” he said.

India on its part needs a peaceful Sri Lanka, for an internal conflict can involve foreign players, especially China in the island nation. Already, India is wary of Sri Lanka’s growing ties with China, a country with which New Delhi is facing a standoff in Ladakh.

Aware that the ethnic fault-lines between the Tamils and the majority Sinhala community need to be bridged, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had, in a recent visit to Colombo called upon the Sri Lankan authorities to enforce the existing peace accords meant to seal old inter-ethnic wounds.

Specifically, Jaishankar reinforced the importance of the now ‘defunct’ Indo-Sri Lanka Accord that was signed between former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene (JRJ).

The accord was enacted on November 14, 1987, which triggered the Article 13A amendment to the Sri Lankan constitution.

Despite the introduction of Article 13A in the Constitution, Colombo has not enforced it.

Consequently, the government of Sri Lanka has not put it into action, basically, the devolution of powers to the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka, arguing that “it was pushed down the throat of President JRJ by India, hurriedly”, Sri Lankan writer L, Lilvani opined in an article contributed to IndiaNarrative.com.

During his visit, Jaishankar also met members of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), a coalition of Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). According to Lilvani, TNA believes that a new constitution is imperative if Sri Lanka is to move forward towards sustainable peace and prosperity as a united country.

But the healing of old wounds will not be easy as each side carries a historical baggage, which cannot be easily shed. Sri Lanka saw one of the most gruesome and bloodiest war which lasted for 30 long years. It ended in 2009, resulting in the sacrifice of soldiers, politicians, academics as well as civilians. On the other hand, the Tamils of the North East also paid a horrendous price. The Tamil Tigers fought tooth and nail with the support of several South Indian politicians as well as the support of the Tamil Nadu youth who have historically, culturally and religiously bonded with the Sri Lankan Tamils.

Fortunately, the protestations within and outside India regarding the demolished memorial seem to have prodded the relevant authorities in Sri Lanka in the right direction. The website of the Colombo Post newspaper reported on Monday that the Jaffna University vice chancellor had laid the foundation stone for destroyed monument, which will now be rebuilt. The daily also reported that Tariq Ahmad, UK’s Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, had also expressed regret over the demolishment of the memorial.

Also read:Nadda, Rahul due in TN as campaigning gains momentum

Categories
-Top News Asia News Sri Lanka USA

US charges 3 Sri Lankans in 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks

The Department said that they were charged after a nearly two-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which assisted Sri Lankan authorities….reports Asian Lite News

A US federal prosecutor has charged three Sri Lankans at a Los Angeles court in connection with the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks on the island nation that killed 268 people, including five Americans.

The Justice Department said on Friday that the three men, who are members of the ISIS in Sri Lanka, have been charged with “conspiring to provide, providing, and attempting to provide material support” to a foreign terrorist organisation.

ISIS in Sri Lanka is the arm of the dreaded Islamic State terrorist group.

The three are in Sri Lankan custody and were identified by the Justice Department as Mohamed Naufar, the “Second Emir” of the ISIS in Sri Lanka; Mohamed Anwar Mohamed Riskan, whoallegedly helped make explosives for the attacks,; and Ahamed Milhan Hayathu Moahmed, who allegedly killed a police officer and shot a suspected informant.

The charges were filed on December 11, 2020, in the federal court in Los Angeles but announced only now by the Justice Department in the last days of President Donald Trump’s administration.

The Department said that they were charged after a nearly two-year investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which assisted Sri Lankan authorities.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said: “These charges reflect that the US justice system remains a powerful tool to bring to bear against those who harm our citizens abroad. We will continue to pursue justice for the victims of these heinous attacks and for all American victims of terrorism.”

Commerce Department official Chelsea Decaminada, who was in Sri Lanka on an assignment, was killed in the attacks that targeted Christian places of worship and hotels where foreigners stay.

Another victim was Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa, a fifth-grade student from a Washington school.

“The domestic charges announced today for an attack on foreign soil represent the FBI’s commitment to deliver justice to travelling American victims and to protect U. interests here and abroad,” said Kristi K. Johnson, the FBI’s Assistant Director in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Office.

IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying that they were in retaliation against the West for defeating his terrorist organisation in Baghuz, Syria, in March 2019.

IS was almost completely wiped out of territories it had held in Syria and al-Baghdadi was killed in a US airstrike in October 2019.

Demers said that the charges against the three related to recruiting others to IS, purchasing and materials for and making explosives, training those who participated in the attacks, and murdering “in the name of this deadly foreign terrorist organisation.”

Also read:Iran warns to expel IAEA inspectors over US sanctions

Also read:Kim Jong-un urges US to end hostile policy

Categories
-Top News Sri Lanka USA

Will US help debt trapped Sri Lanka?

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

China saw a strategic opportunity in establishing its footprint in Sri Lanka and extended finance for the Hambantota port project, knowing quite well that the loans would not be repaid as the project was a commercial dud…writes S.P.S PANNU

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeos scheduled stopover at Colombo on October 28, after his meeting with the Indian foreign minister and defence minister in New Delhi, is expected to provide Sri Lanka an opportunity to work towards breaking free of Chinas domination over its economy.

The dragon has landed Sri Lanka in a vicious debt trap through loans with strings attached, that have even forced the island nation to hand over a newly built seaport to China as it could not repay the loans and interest for the project. As part of the harsh deal to recover its debt, China also took over a sprawling 15,000 acres of land adjoining the Hambantota port.

Even more embarrassing about Sri Lanka losing its sovereignty over this area is the fact that it is situated in the home district of the Rajapaksa brothers who head the government in the Indian Ocean nation. Mahinda Rajapaksa had during his tenure as president started the port project as a grand scheme to bring prosperity to his constituency but the move has ended up converting it into a China-ruled conclave.

China was always looking for an opportunity to establish a hold in India’s backyard and Mahinda Rajapaksa provided the perfect opportunity by taking a huge loan for the economically unviable port. The terms and interest charged on the loans were subsequently made stiffer as Sri Lanka took more funds to meet its increasing expenditure needs.

India had been extending liberal loans to Sri Lanka as part of the economic co-operation with the friendly neighbor, but had refused to finance the Hambantota port project as it was not economically viable. China saw a strategic opportunity in establishing its footprint in Sri Lanka and extended finance for the project, knowing quite well that the loans would not be repaid as the project was a commercial dud.

The port was foreseen to be a failure as Colombo, which is a preferred port of call by international ships because of its deep waters, has more than enough capacity to cater to the maritime demand in the region.

Pompeo’s visit to Sri Lanka will come close on the heels of an earlier visit this month to Colombo of Chinese politburo member and former foreign minister Yang Jiechi. The US Secretary of State will aim to counter the dragon’s influence.

Interestingly, Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa during his talks with Yang, asked China to help him in countering the widespread perception that China-funded megaprojects are “debt traps” aimed at gaining influence in local affairs of the country.

Chinese President Xi Jinping

China has come under pressure following the Tokyo meeting of the Indo-Pacific quadrilateral grouping comprising the USA, India, Japan and Australia. The four countries have decided to step up their involvement in the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” initiative in response to China’s increasingly aggressive posturing in the region which represents a threat to the free movement of ships in international waterways.

Wang’s visit to Colombo came as a sequel to this meeting and China promptly announced a grant of $900 million to Sri Lanka after his trip as an image building exercise.

In recent years, Beijing has increasingly provided financing and construction for critical infrastructure in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, merely to contain India’s influence in the region. Offers of huge loans are being grabbed by cash-strapped governments which ultimately end up in the Chinese debt trap. This means that most of the government revenues are going to repay loans and interest to China which leaves very little or nothing to carry out development work that will benefit the local people.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said Washington wants a “free and open” Asia not dominated by any one country. He has accused Beijing of bullying its neighbors by sending ships close to their offshore energy operations, and of opportunism in holding military exercises and testing new defence hardware in disputed locations, while rival claimants battle coronavirus outbreaks.

Beijing, on its part, considers Sri Lanka as a crucial link in its massive Belt and Road Initiative aimed at providing a string of ports, stretched across the Indian Ocean till the Persian Gulf and beyond, to meet the logistical needs of its rapidly expanding naval fleet.

It now remains to be seen whether Sri Lanka can extricate itself from the dragon’s clutches.