From New Delhi, the picture on the Rajapaksas is mixed. There is lingering bitterness over friction in bilateral ties during the last few years of his elder brother, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure. But those memories have now been superseded with the difficulty faced with Maithripala Sirisena in pushing flagship Indian projects forward
via: The Wire
Since the end of its three-decade long civil war in 2009 and with the help of India, Sri Lanka has been upgrading the Jaffna peninsula’s Kankesanthurai harbour and the adjacent air field Palali, which played a crucial role for the Sri Lankan air force to air-drop relief supplies during the brutal conflict, when supply lines to Jaffna were often cut off by the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Scores of Sri Lankan refugees living in various camps in Virudhunagar district on Monday submitted separate petitions seeking Indian citizenship to Collector A. Sivagnanam.
Stating that they had lived most pat of their life in India, the refugees said they did not have the economic wherewithal to set up their life and livelihood on returning to the island nation.
Over 3,200 refugees, who fled their war-torn nation in 1990s, live in seven refugee camps in the district.
On Monday, they came en masse to the Collectorate with a petition containing the single demand after Friday’s Madras High Court order permitting 65 Tamils from Sri Lanka to submit fresh application for citizenship to the the Collector concerned.
Mohan WIJEWICKRAMA
Former Governor of the Eastern Province
Director of the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center
Research Associate, Centre for Studies on India and South Asia
Sri Lanka Project Director, Crisis Group
Voici une extraordinaire collection de courts métrages ayant l’Inde pour thème, produits entre 1899 et 1947 par le British Film Institute.
Leurs durées vont de quelques secondes à quelques minutes. La plupart sont en noir et blanc et muets ; quelques-uns ont été colorisés.
Lien pour accéder aux vidéo: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXvkgGofjDzi-fROZSBN3p-CKeaZIc-Ue
India has expressed willingness to further partner Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial administration in development initiatives, emphasising the need for a clear economic programme identifying specific areas.
to read more : http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/india-offers-help-sri-lankas-northern-province/article19189330.ece
For the ex-president, the election battle “is a fight for political survival,” said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo. “Rajapaksa Inc., the dynastic project, can’t stay out of power too long or it risks destruction.”
see: http://www.wsj.com/…/divisive-sri-lanka-leader-angles-for-a…
John Kerry’s visit to Sri Lanka, the first by a U.S. Secretary of State in 11 years, recognizes country’s geopolitical importance. It also highlights the outcome of the recent tussle over the island state by two emerging global powers. This is a contest in which India has now gained the upper hand over China, offering important lessons for rising powers as they begin a “Great Game” in Asia.
via: http://thediplomat.com/2015/05/india-v-china-in-sri-lanka-lessons-for-rising-powers/
“Sri Lanka needs good relations with both China and India but Rajapaksa turned it into a zero sum game, which made him a liability for India,” said Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, executive director of the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Sri Lanka.
via: http://www.thedailystar.net/op-ed/politics/sri-lanka-balances-its-ties-two-asian-giants-75269
A Sri Lankan court on Thursday barred former Tamil Tiger rebel leader Kumaran Pathmanathan, wanted by India in connection with the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, from traveling abroad, a lawyer said.
via: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/05/us-sri-lanka-war-india-idUSKBN0L928H20150205
“About16,000 children born to Sri Lankan refugees in India are stateless since they do not have Sri Lankan citizenship and enjoy a mere refugee status.”
Many of us who never physically crossed any borders were yet born as refugees, asylum seekers and stateless people in foreign countries, as was I. Unlike me, however, most of these children will remain stateless for much of their life, if not all of it. For some it may take ten years, for others it may take a whole life to become ‘human’.
After an apparently strained relationship with Colombo during Mr. Rajapaksa’s tenure — predominantly over what India saw as Sri Lanka’s growing proximity to China — New Delhi was quick to welcome and reach out to Colombo’s new dispensation following the January 8 election.
The inter-ministerial talks on resolving the woes of the Tamil refugees in India have resumed. This follows the recent meeting external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had with her Sri Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera in Delhi. The refugee problem is a hangover of the ethnic crisis the island nation had experienced. At one time, there were over three lakh Sri Lankan Tamils in India seeking refugee status. Nearly two-thirds have returned to Sri Lanka or other places. Of the remaining, about 60,000 are in refugee camps enjoying whatever little facilities they are entitled to under UN rules. It is only natural that they want to return to their homeland
Fresh evidence has emerged pointing to a concerted international effort behind the defeat of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse in the country’s presidential election on January 8. Reuters reported on Sunday that the Colombo station chief for India’s external spy agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was recalled to New Delhi before the election, following complaints by the Sri Lankan government that he was helping the opposition parties.
via: http://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/37850
The international community could also play a positive role in Sri Lanka’s progress toward reconciliation. Sri Lanka’s relations with the United States and Europe were notoriously bad during the Rajapaksa regime, but the election creates the opportunity for a revision of U.S. and European policies vis-à-vis Sri Lanka.
To help control corruption and promote reconciliation, it may be time to consider relieving some of the pressures on Sri Lanka applied by the United States and Europe. Gradually unfreezing development aid and giving Sri Lanka enhanced trade benefits under the GSP+ trade agreements if Sri Lanka works toward achieving genuine reconciliation and fighting corruption could be steps in the right direction.
