India’s Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh is being flogged mercilessly by the Indian Media – a symbol of how tall
democracy stands in that country – over what is being dubbed as India’s ‘CHOGM
Blunder’.
The Indian PM’s decision not to
attend the summit in Colombo is being viewed as giving into the bullying
tactics of Jayalalithaa’s Petticoat government. Just days before, Singh while
addressing The
Annual Conclave of Indian Ambassadors/High Commissioners abroad in New Delhi
outlined what he believed to be the ‘Five Core Principals’ of India’s
development-centric Foreign Policy.
Of the five principals, the most relevant
to Indo-Sri Lanka relations at this juncture would be the Fourth- “"we
recognize that the Indian sub-continent’s shared destiny requires greater
regional cooperation and connectivity. Towards this end, we must strengthen
regional institutional capability and capacity and invest in connectivity.”
A few days later, he did a volte farce by opting not to attend CHOGM in Colombo! So what
happened to his “investment in regional connectivity”? The unspoken message that
was ultimately sent by the Indian PM was that he couldn’t give a damn about
“regional connectivity” when his own political interests were at stake.
The Indian media is understandably having a field day
berating their PM for placing petty domestic political interests before the
country’s greater interest vis-à-vis Foreign Policy. Regional analyst
Ankit Panda points out, that the CHOGM 2013 debacle “will be remembered as a
political fumble in India’s regional relations”.
Meanwhile President Mahinda Rajapaksa delivering a
strong message to the Commonwealth members in his inaugural address stated "We
must also collectively guard against bilateral agendas being introduced into
the organisation disrupting Commonwealth traditions and consensus. The strength
of the organisation lies in keeping the member countries helping each other in
a spirit of partnership making the Commonwealth truly unique". This was
obviously a snide reference to India.
Dr. Singh caught between the devil and the
deep-blue-sea may have inadvertently strengthened Rajapaksa’s hand vis-à-vis
the 13th Amendment. He can
now dilute it further or do away with it entirely.
One wonders if Rajapaksa in all his cunningness was
secretly hoping that the Indian PM will keep away from CHOGM 2013!
The fallout of this whole issue
will be India’s pet-concern; to ensure a fair deal for Sri Lanka’s Tamil
community, ending up on the back-burner. After all it was the hard work put in
by India that made the Northern Provincial Council elections a reality.
The worst off in this scenario is
none other than the newly elected Chief Minister of the Northern Province C. V.
Wigneswaran. He is now in a most unenviable position.
Meanwhile China must obviously be
beaming with glee as it watches fragile Indo-Sri Lanka relations deteriorating
even further!
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