Ask a questions, and be called anti national

 New Delhi: A raid by the Delhi Police on October 3 on the residences of around 50 employees/journalists of a news website Newsclick countrywide was loaded with a larger message. That the press should not opine, ask questions of the powers that be, and that the state can round up anyone & everyone frivolously with the ultimate charge of being antinational and slap a UAPA.

In these times when India has fallen to the lowest rank in press freedom, 161 in 180 countries, the reasons are there to see. Last few years there have been threats and raids on news channels and digital news platforms including independent newspersons. (for their views and analysis of issues that concern the system and the government.) NDTV was raided in 2017 and years after it saw the end of free and fearless journalism. Similarly Newsclick was earlier too raided and inquired for its financial dealings. This time they came with another reason…anti nationalism. The use of coercion is a new low to muzzle media freedom in these times.

Delhi police reached Newsclick employees homes in the early morning, confiscated their phones, laptops and other gadgets, which very much fall into the domain of professional use, questioned that if they had covered the Delhi Riots, or the NRC protests or Shaheen Bagh, and then took a few of them to the police station. The Editor Probir Purkayasta and its HR Head were taken into police custody and others left to go home with the suggestion that divulging the interrogation will only not work in their favour. Newsclick has been charged allegedly for having taken investments from China and has taken funds to spread anti India propaganda. No allegations have been proved yet. Newsclick is one of the few platforms that has been openly questioning the government of its actions and asking for accountability in its schemes and programmes. Yes, its the duty of a journalist to cover all sorts of happenings wherever to report objectively as is seen. And to that end a phone, a camera, a laptop and other supporting gadgets are his/her professional tools.

Press Clubs across the nation including Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Bangalore issued statements condemning the treatment meted out to journalist. A letter was written to the Chief Justice of India to intervene seeking action against assault on freedom of expression that is inherent to journalism. A peaceful protest was held at Press Club of India to affirm solidarity with fellow journalists.

Leading minds of the country including lawyers, senior journalists, opposition leaders have voiced their concern comparing the times to undeclared emergency. In 1976 when Indira Gandhi declared Emergency, press was the first bastion to fall. Although a large section of it lost no time in towing the establishment’s line but at least it was a declared emergency. These times are dreadful. Anyone can be picked up anytime, even a twitter or Facebook post of five years back can be reason good enough for the government to put one behind bars. Journalists, satirist, comedians, writers, activist are languishing in jail for years without being proved guilty. Social media is full of toxic trolls. Party dedicated IT cells are working as the third eye. Are we being turned into a surveillance state!

If an unverified sentence in a news report in a foreign newspaper can be taken as reason enough for framing charges against a news organization in India the intentions are clear enough. In that case a news can be planted anywhere to declare anybody an anti national.

Press Freedom across the globe has taken a hit. In times of unbridled social media and open source information, governments are at liberty to curtail  freedom of expression. In the name of democracy, autocracies are emerging as a new norm. To remain in power governments ensure that the narrative is in their favor. And to that purpose, with law & order and all agencies under their control its not too difficult to throttle voices of reason. The basic foundation of a democracy is freedom of expression and so freedom of press. Majority of popular media has turned approvers (bootlickers) in awe of the system. Media has become a business. Big houses are owned by capitalists or are taken over by them, who employ journalists who see the fire of journalism in them die a slow death for not being able to report stories objectively and unbiased. That was when independent journalism is born.  

Many a protests have been held in last few years to fight for freedom of expression in New Delhi, from where the power of the State emanates. Ironically Press Club of India is at the very next door of the newly built sprawling Parliament building. As the general elections 2024 come by it will be interesting to watch the state of press freedom. If Newsclick was a trailer, we ll keep our fingers crossed.  

Tags: #Pressfreedom #Newsclick #Indianmedia, #Journalistsprotests #pritiprakash

 

         

G20 India….Diplomacy at its best & some politics

The G20 2023 will go down in history as the most successful summit meeting ever not only because its consensual joint declaration which in itself was a rare moment of sorts within a conglomeration of 20 different countries, but considering the geopolitical landscape in the background of Russia Ukraine conflict that has polarized the world and the rising Chinese imperialism, to forge a consensus from the extremely differentiated world order was a challenge. Remember the Bali declaration had failed to come through.  To pull off a draft that would bring the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea and NATO nations camped on one side against Russia, China, North Korea, on the other and with other developing countries that were neutral, was beyond expectation. Hectic negotiations over a period of one year since India took over the Presidency, with diplomatic deft from Team India, saw the Joint Declaration come through. It was a historical achievement.  

Other major achievements of this summit were the inclusion of African Union in the G20 grouping, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor that is a rail and ship connectivity corridor, the Bio Fuel Alliance, agreement on UNSC reforms & Climate funding.  

On the first day of the summit itself, after the 2 sessions and some meetings, Prime Minister Modi’s announcement that the joint statement was agreed upon with consensus, threw a surprise. Then followed a press conference which confirmed the Declaration adopted. This, when earlier both the Russia-China combine and the West were firm on not budging from their respective position on the Ukraine conflict. Information says that the US was asked to handle the EU and China played a sport in bringing around Russia for a Joint Declaration to work out.  

A source said India circulated the final draft to the G20 members on Friday night saying if they do not agree to it, there will be no declaration.

Sources also say the language was so worked on as to be not just acceptable to all countries but be mild and far from harsh. The main point of difference was the Ukraine aspect wherein the term ‘Russian Aggression’ was not acceptable to Russia & China that had the Bali Declaration fall apart.  This time the Russia-Ukraine paragraphs did not condemn Russia for its actions, nor did it call it an “aggression”. But the West also got what it wanted.

On the domestic front New Delhi was showcased at its best, it was glitter and glitz all the way. G20 banners & posters dotted the entire capital with Modi’s image welcoming the delegates. Roads skirted with potted plants and newly planted trees with lit up facade, flyovers painted with Indian art, slums hidden with tin sheets, traffic restrictions for common man to the hilt, roads cleaned up and washed, even stray animals and usual beggars on streets vanished for the 2 days extravaganza.

The venue Bharat Mandapam was a lavish and state of the art structure that showcased India’s prowess as much as its years old culture. Inside the precincts was the International Media Centre, a sprawling space with wifi and workstations and food, dedicated to international and domestic media was catered to for 24*7 coverage. Interestingly the paradox was that the press was not allowed anywhere near the summit meeting venue, except the official media DD and ANI. So no independent stories or interviews. That’s caged media.  

The second day after the fanfare concluded some world leaders held their Press Conferences. US President Biden tweeted after reaching Vietnam, his next stop, that despite request to the PMO about an interaction with the Press after the summit, it was refused. In Vietnam he said he talked about the role of civil society, press freedom & Human Rights to Modi.

French President Macron in a press briefing later in the day at IMC said, we condemn war and that G20 confirms isolation of Russia.

Turkish President Erdogan too held a press briefing. Seen on the side of Russia he said that any initiative to isolate Russia is bound to fail and that he seeks rotating membership of UNSC.

The most awaited interaction was with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov. Talking to reporters Lavrov said that the summit was a definite success & a ‘breakthrough’ paving the way for the world to move forward.

Canadian PM Trudeau too addressed a press conference. Trudeau said that he is concerned about the strong anti India act of separatists in Canada.

Brazil, that is going to chair the next Presidency of G20 called the summit exceptional. He said, "We will put inequality at the top: inequality of gender, race, education, health, poverty and hunger. The world needs balance."

However Ukraine had something else to say about the Declaration, ‘there is nothing to be proud of.’

However this was India’s moment on the global stage. May also be called an exercise aimed at the elections in 2024.

Macedonia FM Osmani says, G20 should be used to make the world more secure

 

New Delhi: The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Macedonia Bujar Osmani, who was on his visit to New Delhi said, ‘My visit to India comes at a challenging moment for our global security architectures.  And both our two countries have a significant role to play here, leading two important international platforms: North Macedonia is chairing the OSCE and India is presiding the G 20.  I truly believe that we must give our all to ensure the functioning and positive contribution of these  platforms for the well being of the people, and for a bit more security in a very insecure world.’

Bujar Osmani is also the Chairperson of OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe). Osmani met S Jaishankar, EAM and was hosted by ICWA. He also visited Kolkata, Mission of Charity in Kolkata, established by Mother Teresa, who was an Albanian but worked in India.

Extorting Mother Teresa, the common thread between India & Macedonia, Bujar Osmani invited India to join his initiative Centre for Peace and Meditation, within the framework of my OSCE chairmanship. 

Macedonia being a NATO partner Osmani stressed that his small country needs defence partnerships. He said, ‘While India is an enormously large country, North Macedonia is small, and need alliances, including in the defense field.

This March, North Macedonia marked its third anniversary as a NATO member state. ‘During this period, we proved to be a credible and reliable ally. It deserves underlining that NATO is a defence pact and has never and will never use aggression against anyone’.

Speaking at ICWA, on Ukraine Russia conflict he said, ‘NATO leaders have strengthened their commitment to defense investment, agreed to bring Ukraine closer to NATO, and deepened partnerships around the world.’ He said the Alliance, agreed with Finland's accession doubling NATO's land border with Russia, and soon, Sweden will be joining as well.

He said, ‘North Macedonia can count on allied support should its territorial integrity and sovereignty ever be threatened.’

Osmani called on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar. Thereafter, External Affairs Minister, Dr. S Jaishankar and Foreign Minister Osmani held bilateral talks including on India-Western Balkans relations, trade, investments, multilateral cooperation, education, agriculture and people-to-people ties. They also discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest including Indo-Pacific, Ukraine and UN reforms. Deputy NSA, Vikram Misri called on Foreign Minister Osmani, MEA informed.

On 01 September 2023, Foreign Minister Osmani visited Mother House and paid tribute at the Mother Teresa Memorial in Kolkata. He also held meeting with officials of the Government of West Bengal.

​As per MEA, the first visit to India by Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani provided fresh impetus to relations between India and North Macedonia.

Tags: #Macedonia, #Bujar Osmani, #Indopacific, #NATO, #Internationalrelations, #Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, #G20 

Ukraine has a law that forbids negotiations with Russia; West hijacking G20 Agenda: Denis Alipov, Russian Envoy to India

 

New Delhi: Ahead of the G20 Summit being held in New Delhi, Ambassador of Russia to India, Denis Alipov makes explosive revelations on some important issues ranging from Ukraine conflict, the grain deal, India's G20 Presidency outcome, and the new map issued by China.

Excerpts

On India's Presidency of G20 & its outcome

Indian presidency experiences a strong pressure from countries who in Russia’s opinion hijacked the G20’s agenda making the Ukraininan crisis a topic of discussions. G20 being a consensus based group should focus on economics &  business but since last year political issues were discussed, something that we do not accept. If there is no consensus then the item should be removed. Political matters should never be discussed in G20. So in our perception the success of G20 rests very largely on the shoulders of those who are insisting on non consensual issues of the agenda. We very strongly supported the priorities & agenda that India has put forward for G20 & are hopeful that the outcome will be the one that India aspires for and is hoping to reach.  In any case I believe that  the summit will be a huge success for India and the world regardless of the formal outcome we all are looking forward to.


On Ukraine…

Despite the assertions from the other side it is Russia that is open to peace. Ukraine consistently on record says that they do not want negotiations. The west continues to supply weapons to Ukraine. Last year in March we agreed on the broad peaceful agreement which was later on derailed by the US & other Ukrainian supporters intentionally & so all the claims & accusations that Russia does not want peace or the so called Copenhagen format that Ukraine has done recently, is not something that we see as basis of finding a solution since in that format the 10 point formula of Zelensky is being discussed. This formula has nothing in it but set of alternatives opposing Russia. If somebody wants to find solution we all need to sit & discuss & together agree on some settlement.

On not an era of war….

Russia has just retaliated to the aggression launched against us. The era statement should be addressed to Zelensky & the US. They did not show any intention to resolve the issue. Zelensky forbade himself legally to speak with Russia. There is a law in Ukraine preventing negotiations with Russia. Ukrainians passed a law sometime back that forbids negotiations with Russia.

On Russia's position in case of India China conflict

Our relations with India as our relations with China are very wholesome. We will never sacrifice our relations in case of any unfortunate development in the world. We do not develop our relations with any country at the expense of any other. But we advocate improvement in the relations between Indian & China. Having said that we do not interfere into the disputes & contradictions that India has with China. We have been always very respective of the position India & China have said that the boundary issue is a bilateral issue. We have a trilateral mechanism between Russia India China, a format which was formed well before BRICS & was quite active prior to 2020. But after the Galwan incident the dialogue between India & China became more complicated. We are keen to continue with the trilateral format which is very helpful to build confidence, the basis for improvement of relations. This will happen soon or later. The sooner the better.   

On the newly published Chinese map.

We haven’t commented on that but they have some discrepancies on the Russia China border as well. We don’t exaggerate this issue with the Chinese & we have noticed India too does not exaggerate it too. It doesn’t change the situation.

On giving Defence equipment to Pakistan

We do not supply Defence equipment to Pakistan.  We have Defence cooperation with India not with Pakistan.  


On payment systems

US doesn’t want Russia to use USD in transaction with other countries.  But we already had established mechanism of rupee rouble trade before the crisis. So the mechanism does exist & is workable but it doesn't work appropriately because the Indian financial communities, Indian banks are not allowed to use it fearing secondary sanctions or some kind of consequences if they start doing business with Russian banks. Even knowing that the dollar in such transactions are in no way involved. The US has no leverage to disrupt or be a party to the bilateral currency transactions. Even knowing that banks are allowed to do it the over cautiousness is the main reason behind the fact the mechanism has not been launched so far. There is a trend of increasing use of Indian currency are signs of multi polarity.

We are trying to create workable mechanism in the current circumstances so that trade & economic relations continue unhindered. Projects like North South corridor is in focus. Its a multinational project involving Iran & other countries. We have on agenda mutual understanding that we need to have FTA between India & Eurasia in which several countries besides Russia participate, some central Asian countries, Belarus & Asian states.


On Joint Declaration

The situation is complicated. There is no consensus on one particular point of agenda which is the Ukrainian part. In that case the non consensual item should be removed from the agenda. We have agreed on all topical issues of the world..climate, sustainable development, financial crisis, food crisis, we have consensus on all except the Ukrainian part.  Russia says lets discuss it. We are open for discussion. There is the Security council for political issue. G20 has been established for resolving financial & economic problems that the world faces, not geopolitical problems.

If you say that the energy situation or the food crisis has direct bearing on the economic situation, its not the Ukrainian crisis that has triggered the energy crisis or disruption of food & grain supplies, not even the Russian actions in that part of d world. It is the sanctions that has a direct bearing on food crisis. Sanctions from the west has disrupted. The main supply of wheat & grain to the world markets for several years has been Russia & not Ukraine. Ukraine supplied only 3%.

India’s role in solving Russia Ukraine issue

It will certainly help if India decides to take it forward, give some ideas. But they should be aimed at finding the truth, true solution to the problem... there are proposals from African countries besides Zelensky formula. We are open to any. So far we have not seen ideas that are truly helpful to find solution to start negotiations.  

On Russia withdrawing from the Grain deal

There are 2 parts to the grain deal. One is through the black sea, was implemented. We have ceased our participation in that part because the other part involving Russian companies, Russian grain supplies was never launched. So all the UN can do is address & request the G7, the US & the western countries to display goodwill & take necessary steps to allow the Russian part of the grain deal to work. The UN doesn’t have any other means other than pleading & requesting. And the US & Germany have rejected it so far. So Russia has withdrawn from one part. The reality is that the other part has not worked so far.

And blaming us of walking out of the Black sea grain initiative, is hypocritical. The initiative doesn’t work because the 2nd part of it which presupposes the participation of the Russian banks in transactions for food supplies, which presupposes the allowing of Russian ships to use their ports, supply grain…this part doesn’t work. & this particular part is the main reason why there is shortage of grain supply. Not because Ukraine supplies something. And  Ukraine continues by land.


On whether Russia is open to peace proposal & if there is none where is the war going

We are determined to achieve all the objectives that we have put. We have been very open, we have tried on many occasions for dialogue with NATO, US  & the EU on the security architecture,  but the fact is we cannot live in Europe if there is a feeling of danger from someone. Europe feels danger from Russia. It is not a stable situation. We cannot continue living with in constant fear of each other. We have been saying this very patiently to all NATO members that NATO cannot continue to expand eastwards because we feel danger in that extension. NATO does not hide the anti Russia objectives that they have. We cannot live with NATO at our borders. They have very arrogantly dismissed all our concerns for decades. We had warned while having those discussions with US & NATO that if they do not agree to an acceptable security architecture a serious situation could erupt & it has erupted.  Besides, this is only one part of the problem. Another part is what about the legitimate coup that happened in Ukraine in 2014 openly supported by US for their geopolitical purposes.


On what concessions is Russia ready to make for peace if as solution they say Ukraine will not join NATO

We want Ukraine should be a neutral state. That is the first step to solution. We are open to a dialogue with NATO. It should be a dialogue, should be in good spirit & good will.  

On S400 delays……

Delays of S400 didn’t happen because of military aggravation but after that we had agreed mutually on a timetable & it is being followed very meticulously. Supplies continue & they will be concluded on time as stipulated in new agreements formed in new supplies.

On Bali declaration..

It cannot be repeated after there were Nord stream blasts, disruption of ammonia pipeline in Odessa, all these very seriously aggravated the energy & food crisis. These were revelations by western agencies. Statements by some former PM’s that they intentionally disrupted the peace negotiations between Russia & Ukraine & before that Minsk agreement to win time for Ukraine to build up militarily for full scale military operation in the East, Donbas republics. The impact of sanctions was not reflected in the Bali formula. If they want resolution they should be open to changing the Bali para. But they want to retain it. We don’t agree with that.

On India's position in the global context..

India is a global power. It will become a member of UNSC, it will be one of the centres of decision making very soon. It is rightly positioned as leader of the Global South & to lead the process of democratization of international principles.  

  Tags: #UkraineRussiaconflict #G20 #Russiagraindeal, #DenisAlipov #Zelensky #Balideclaration, #GlobalSouth #PritiPrakashBlogger #S400 #ChineseMap

India does not have a National Security Strategy in place, Former Army Chief Gen MM Naravane

 

New Delhi: Former Army Chief General MM Naravane admitted that India does not have a fully articulated National Security Strategy in place and that as per our Foreign policy we are guided by two factors. No extra territorial ambitions ie we do not covet any one else’s territory. And secondly we don’t seek to impose our way of life or will on anybody else.

In a rare interaction talking on a host of issues to reporters he said that Security of the country is the responsibility of each & every citizen, not just the Armed Forces and that National security is to be seen with a much wider canvas.


Excerpts from his interaction:

Q. In the context of the geo political situation specially with regards to China how does the Defence architecture fit in!

A. Any instability on any of our border countries whether Nepal, Myanmar or Bangladesh or Sri Lanka, has an impact on our security.  Any disturbance on these borders results in rise in narco terrorism, transnational smuggling, drug trafficking etc. Having stable neighbors is actually an asset as far as our national security is concerned. And so any thing happening in the larger region of the world will affect us. Like Ukraine, or even Africa. And so when a National Security Strategy is formulated or when we look into the threat perception we look at the entire regional & global environment.

Wars are not fought by armed forces alone, wars are fought by nations. Higher Defence organization is needed to bring all ministries on board in case of war. All ministries have to know about it & should be on board. So like railways has to be on board to mobilize the army, for fuel stocking that Ministry has to be on board & therefore the Higher Defence organization is needed. And ultimately the decision goes to the Cabinet Committee on Security and then the Parliament is the final authority to declare war on any country.  

Yes, China is a considerable adversary since long and will be in future. In the past we were reticent in calling out China, we would call them as our northern adversary. Only post Doklam & post Galwan that hestiency & shyness has gone. We have reoriented our forces from the western to the northern front. It is nothing new & was always under consideration. Doklam & Galwan were catalyst for the change. Now we are in a better position to tackle anything that China does.

Q.  How is Technology changing the way we are fighting wars!

A. Warfare is constantly evolving. we need to adapt to the changes of warfare as we keep using the traditional way of warfare in terms of weapons system. Aircrafts may change to adapt in its unmanned avtar. Tanks too may become unmanned. I read somewhere that Navy is launching its unmanned ship which will have no crew on board. This way of no human involvement will change the way we fight. Now is the time that we have to start thinking how these things can evolve to meet the future wars that we are likely to fight. Given the nature of warfare boots on ground will always be there. Only when boots are on ground can you claim that territory as yours. Russia Ukraine an example. Tech can aid & assist but that infantry man will always remain.

Q. There is talk in political circles that we want to take Pak Occupied Kashmir back. How do you see it!

A. Taking back of PoK is nothing new. A 1994 resolution was passed that the entire PoK belongs to India. No harm in making such statements…it keeps your enemy off balance. If we send people to take PoK he will also deploy 50,000 men. He'll also spend money there. Keep your enemy guessing.

Q. US is pressurizing Bangladesh to get control of St Martin’s island which Bangladesh has in its southern seas. What may be the ramifications.

A. As far as Indian Ocean is concerned we must try to keep the IO free of any foreign bases. We are quite capable of looking after our own security, we have good relations with all our neighbors including Bangladesh. Afterall where will Bangladesh go for its export,  they will come to us. Where will their labour go, their cheaper & finished goods go…India is closer. Although we will not like any foreign bases in our backyard these countries also are aware of what is good & right for them.

Q. Your take on Alternative diplomacy (Kissinger style)

A. India has always said that we must resolve our difference through dialogue. War & violence should always be the last resort & should be avoided at all cost. A single aircraft costs 300 million. 10 planes lost means your economy is in doldrums.This is the kind of material loss other than human lives.

Q. The scheme of Agnipath seems to be a flawed decision by the government as it is seen backtracking on many points. What's your take and have we stopped the Gorkha recruitment from Nepal!

A. The fact is that we need a young army. To take an assault at the altitude of Tiger Hill at 15-16000 ft we need young soldiers. As far as  commitment is concerned our regimental ethos in our battalions & regiments will take of that. Time will tell whether it is good or bad. But to say not to undertake any change at all is not correct. Change is the order of the day. We have to adapt, changes are being made. As the scheme rolls out & we come to know the pros & cons, mid course correction will be done. Our constitution too has been amended 101 times. Agneepath scheme may get amended many more times as we go along. It will keep getting fine tuned to make it a success.

For Gorkhas we are having a shortfall of Nepali domicile as it is & so we had already opened recruitment to Gorkha regiments from other tribes. They will like to join the Indian Army for all the benefits that they get. They are most willing to join under the same terms & conditions. Terms & conditions will remain the same, they can come and join if they want.

Q. 7. Can a local commander of the PLA take a decision on his own to launch a strike at India without clearances from the top.  

A. I agree, the China skirmishes must not have happened at the local commander area level. However the autocratic setup as is existing in china, sometimes local skirmishes do go out of hand. The manner in which it was orchestrated definitely show  that it had a little higher level of involvement but at what level.

Q. 4. In case of a 2 front war with Pakistan & China, will India be able to handle such a war.  

A. What we have is a 2 front threat. But we do not want to fight a 2 front war. In history no one fighting a 2 front war has ever won. That is why diplomacy plays a major role in ensuring that one of the fronts is kept silent. It is the entire nation that goes to war not just the armed forces. During 71 war with Pakistan, China did not mobilize. Because we had an agreement with Russia. Indira Gandhi had gone to Russia just for that reason. That is diplomacy’s role. In war there is always a primary front & a secondary front. The secondary front will have a deterrent capability to keep things quite less some localized action takes place. All our resources will be concentrated on our primary front.

Q. Manipur, do you think it is a serious internal security crisis & will it have any impact on external security.

A. If there is internal insecurity not only in our neighboring countries but even in our border states, it is bad for our internal security. Foreign agencies will surely be there in case of internal insecurity, specially there is Chinese aid to insurgency groups helping them for so many yrs.

Q. How do you see the problem of Narco terrorism from Myanmar

A. Its not new, was always there. Myanmar has always been in a state of disarray, military rule, even in the best of times the govt only had control over central Myanmar not on the peripheral bordering states with India or China. Year on year the amount of drugs recovered has only increased.There are agencies in the game who benefit from the violence who will not want situation of normalcy to return. They stand to benefit with this instability.

Q. What is the Integrated Command structure & does it involve changes in MoD too.

A. Integrated Command  is restricted to the Armed forces not MoD. With the creation of CDS & Department of Military Affairs (DMA) headed by CDS wearing a different hat as Secretary DMA a certain amount of restructuring in MoD has already happened. Within MoD there is still scope for restructuring. With the creation of CDS there are 2 verticals in the MoD. DMA & Dep of Defence (DoD) headed by Defence Secretary. While DMA has a mix of military, uniformed & non uniformed persons DoD is entirely of non uniformed persons from various cadres. For proper integration there should be a provision of cross postings of both uniformed & non uniformed persons for effective functioning of MoD. As of now we have 3 agencies…space, cyber & Armed Forces Special Operation Division. These were purposely created as agencies & not as commands. Going forward if need be we could also have either one of these agencies. Recently the US has created a separate cyber command. In fact overarching all these commands, cyber threat will not be restricted to the military domain, it will be a national level threat.

Q. QUAD is not a military construct so how is maritime domain awareness seen in the context of China.

A.  I don’t think because of QUAD we will be drawn into deploying military assets specially our naval assets into the Pacific. Even if such a situation arises where some operation is required by QUAD nations then our role will be quite well defined to take care of our own backyard. So I doubt we will deploy our naval assets per se.

Sri Lanka's pheonix rise, India handholds

 

The prosperity of a nation is reflected generally by its high end upscale places. Although every nation has its underbelly too. With that in mind as I entered Bally’s casino, Sri Lanka's largest and most luxurious one located in the heart of Colombo, it had a story to tell. Out of 100 gaming tables it has, almost half had people betting. Its the place where money pours in anything from 5 to 9 digits both won & los t at the blink of an eye. The casino caters to the close proximity of all luxury hotels and takes care of its visitors by offering a free pick & drop in Mercs & BMWs. Also offers complimentary coupons to high end travelers entering SL. Bolllywood stars are a common sight, not for gaming but as celebrity entertainers & mind you they don’t come cheap. Interestingly after the economic crisis in 2022, Bally’s Casino owner was tasked with turning the nation’s flailing economy around in his own way.  

Photo Credit Priti Prakash

 

 The signs of resurgence are showing. With India extending a lifeline with a $4 billion credit line and a nudge to the IMF, the country manage a loan of $US 2.9 billion and ADB $350 million, the island country seems confident of its resilience. Tuk Tuks are back on street though with much higher charges compared to pre 2021. Fuel is costly as the government increased taxes. Malls have opened albeit with much lesser crowds compared to last time I visited the island country in 2018 when the famous House of Fashion was choc o bloc with people on a weekend. 

Photo Credit Priti Prakash

Tourism has started picking up, hotel occupancy is catching up too (remember Sri Lanka is an all year round tourist destination), Travel industry wants to make the most of every single traveler. Government says inflation is under control, fuel, food and medicines are easily available.  Construction industry is what the government is waiting to start booming again which will spur growth.

As I go into an Ayurveda products selling shop its well stacked with oils, spices and herbal medicines but buyers are just but tricking in the form of tourists. Ayurveda is one of SL’s main exports along with Tea and Textiles. 

Photo Credit Priti Prakash

What people say

People of Sri Lanka seemed more than thankful at the help India has provided when the small country was in the throes of bankruptcy and political unrest. Sri Lanka Speaker Abeywardhane, at the recently held 67^th TAAI Convention said, ‘if India wouldn’t have come in there would have been a blood bath on the streets of Colombo.’ 

Photo Credit Priti Prakash

President of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) Jyoti Mayal who carried 500 delegates from India, has urged Indian Tourism Industry to help Sri Lanka bounce back its tourism. 

Common people too are aware of the help rendered by India. Tour guide Nalinda John can’t thank India enough. ‘It is a great solidarity, our big brother India stood for us throughout the crisis. India came forward with infrastructure reconstruction after the catastrophic tsumani in 2004, in 2022 and 2023 up to June the highest numbers of tourists recorded were from India. This is a great gesture of the friendship of India.’

Photo Credit Priti Prakash

 

The Past & Present

It was just last year that people were on the streets and all over the Presidential palace that stands on the banks of the Port City being constructed by China with an estimated construction cost of $392 million. It is said that the Chinese brought prisoners from China to build road, highways, ports and other infrastructure instead of making use of locals that would have garnered income for them, but instead paid the Chinese prisoner who would take it back home. A typical Chinese model replicated in Pakistan too. 

Photo Credit Priti Prakash

The Port City now stands beautifully made with a grassy bulwark between the harbor and the main arterial road lined up with skyscraping 5 star hotels standing tall just across. China has funded most of the Highways and have invested in a terminal. China accounted for about 10% of Sri Lanka's US$35 billion foreign debt as of April 2021. It is the largest investor in Sri Lanka today, with funding and investment of nearly $15 billion.

With 13 hrs of power cut last year people were for 5 days in queue for fuel. No cooking gas, people in Colombo in posh apartments cooked with firewood. Food inflation went upto 95% , general inflation touched 80%. ‘Had it gone a little beyond that we would have gone the path of Lebanon, Venezuela, Argentina or Zimbabwe. That would have destroyed our fabric. $3.9 billion worth of huge credit line at a time when a country is declared bankrupt, was a huge help,’ acknowledged Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka MUM Ali Sabry.

He further informs, ‘One year down the line no power cuts, we have plenty of fertilizers, good harvest during the last season, foreigners are coming in, tourism has revived, rupee has depreciated about 19% this year. Inflation is totally under control & come down to 12% and should further come down to 6-7% by the end of this month’.

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For Tourism

‘Give us 10% of your tourists and we are sorted,’ says Sri Lanka’s Tourism Minister Haren Fernando at the 67^th TAAI Convention in Colombo. Tourism being the mainstay of Sri Lanka bringing in the much needed forex, is the government’s main focus sector. India’s travel industry has pledged to handhold Sri Lanka come back on the tourism map. 

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Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) organized its 67th Convention in Colombo which, as has been seen, leverages huge tourism potential in any given country. TAAI’s President Jyoti Mayal said, ‘With India and Sri Lanka standing as two of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, boasting a combined population of over 1.5 billion people and a burgeoning middle class, rich heritage and attractive tourism destinations, the potential for growth in the travel and tourism sector is tremendous.’ She called on Indian travelers to hand hold Sri Lanka in bouncing back in its tourism.

With just one flight everyday from Chennai & Jaffna other than from New Delhi to Colombo, more connectivity between the India and Sri Lanka are going to boost tourism. Ferry services and cruise tourism along with privatization of Sri Lanka Airlines, their national carrier is being worked out after the visit of Sri Lanka President Wickremesinghe to New Delhi recently. 

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Measures being taken

With Dr Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India as the role model of public services & economic reforms in the late 90’s, Wickremesinghe govt has taken some bold steps, pushed by IMF aid terms. Cost Reflecting Pricing for electricity, water, fuel, gas, & food has been started for the state to not make losses. A 3 pronged strategy of Stabilization, Recovery and Growth has been charted. Investment is invited from countries. Some of them already in the pipeline are in petroleum, refinery, renewable energy, port development and tourism. Some few big Indian companies have come in particularly on Colombo port. Big projects are going to come on wind power. Sri Lanka is in need of FDI as capital is needed to start new projects.  

Measures have been taken to improve revenue in terms of taxation, reduce expenses, to decouple business from government, reform of State owned Enterprises by privatizing them, not giving subsidies on popular policies and working on digitization & direct transfer money.

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Factsheet

For Sri Lanka main source of foreign revenue are from overseas remittances which is almost $2.3 million. Apparel manufacturers export their products to Europe and North America. Tea industry which is the third highest income source from foreign countries, has had no big impact on geo-political or internal conditions. Hospitality industry almost collapsed during the pandemic but gradually it is booming. Share market prices are moving forward slowly. 

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Elections or no…

However, the opposition leader and National Organizer & Member Political Bureau of People’s Liberation Front of Sri Lanka and a 4 times MP Bimal Rathnayake has something different to say. ‘There are many facts to prove that economy is going in negative direction. Contraction of the economy in 2023 Q1 was 11.5%. Fuel consumption is around 35 % means great reduction of economic activities. 500,000 formal jobs have been lost. Although food inflation shown by the govt is 26% but reality is all poor and middle class families now spends around 50%-60% their income for their food. Fuel has gone up by 300% within 8 months and electricity by 250-300%. Transport bus fares by 300-400% within last months. Now they are reducing some of them by 10%.’

As Sri Lanka is under an interim govt after the fleeing of Rajapakse’s and the country is slowly straddling towards normalcy the questions of elections is a matter that is on everyones’ mind. According to Foreign Minister Sabry elections will be held on time ie next year. But the opposition is wary about it. MP Bimal Rathanayake says elections are not a possibility.

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