Even as the first ball is just being bowled at the idyllic sea side southern port town of Hambanatota in Sri Lanka, for the just started T20 Cricket World Cup, the Sri Lankan premier is all set to land in India.
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to lay the foundation stone for an international Buddhist university in Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh, on September 21.
This event has not gone down too well in the state of Tamil Nadu which accuses the man of genocide against ethnic Tamils, a legacy of the Tamil freedom movement in that country, from which the Sri Lankans have not emerged looking like angels.
Shouting slogans against the 'genocide' of ethnic Tamils in the island nation and holding Rajapaksa responsible for 'war crimes', Vijayaraj, an unmarried auto-rickshaw driver, took his colleagues by surprise by dousing himself with kerosene and setting himself on fire even as ploitical parties of all hues go to town on the issue and whip up a frenzy in Tamil Nadu.
Vijayaraj was rushed to a nearby hospital and his condition is stated to be critical.
Just a few weeks ago close to 178 Sri Lanka tourists in Tamil Nadu bore the brunt of a fresh round of protests in Tamil Nadu when a pro-LTTE group intercepted the seven buses they were travelling in. The pilgrims were returning to Nagapattinam after offering prayers at Velankanni.
In another incident, a group of Sri Lankan tourists were accosted by another Tamil group who waved black flags at them while they were on their way to the Trichy airport.
This has prompted the Sri Lankan government to issue a travel advisory against travelling to that state.
Sri Lanka just a few years ago had just one major port at Colombo, that is not the case today. The Chinese, in China Harbour Engineering Co & Sinohydro Corporation Ltd JV, have built them a superb facility at Hambanatota on the sothern arc of Sri Lanka and there is a perception that the nervous Lankans are looking at closer ties with the Chinese even as statesmanship is held hostage to regional politics in India. A strong Chinese presence in Sri Lanka controlling sea routes is a major threat to India. After all 100 % of our East-West cargo goes by Hambanatota.
While we enjoy the cricket, that should makes us nervous indeed.........
India, should she want to play a major role in the region needs to seperate local politics from strategic interest.
3 comments:
Very well written
The building of a port at Hanbatota is part of the chinese attempts to Chain A String Of Pearls And Thereby weaken the pre eminent power in the region namely India. The attempt to use the tamil question by political parties in Tamil Nadu for political mileage is an age old trick though it needs to be resisted as always.and the actual fact couldnt be stated better. india is taking its dominance in the Indian Ocean Region for granted. a little over a decade ago a chinese admiral claimed that the indian ocean is not indias ocean. that may very well become the case if india allows ethnic issues to destroy its diplomatic ties and we should ensure that the indian ocean doesnt remain nominally the indian ocean
Well said Vishnu.........while there is strength in our diversity.........it could be a weakness as well.
It is a well known fact that the Chinese feel threatened by American presence in the Pacific Rim..........
Interesting power play!
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