Sri Lanka has been forced to sign four bilateral agreements unfavourable for the island nation with India soon compromising the country’s sovereignty as a state. This was transpired when perusing official documents, several political and foreign affairs analysts said.
The relevant Cabinet Memoranda and interim documents and annexures have clearly indicated that these bilateral agreements are detrimental for the country endangering Sri Lanka’s territory, people , and its sovereignty.
Some of these proposals needed to get Cabinet approval for Sri Lanka to secure the US$ 1 billion Indian loan.
This was after agreements were also signed for the Trincomalee oil tanks, a renewable energy project in Sampur and an energy project off Mannar previously. They also come on the eve of Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s visit to Sri Lanka scheduled for the coming week.
The first Cabinet Memorandum was to obtain DO-228 Dornier reconnaissance aircraft including two Dornier reconnaissance aircrafts from India to enhance Sri Lanka Navy’s maritime surveillance for feasibility at a security conference between Sri Lanka and India on 9 January 2018 in New Delhi.
However, the latest Cabinet Memorandum stated that one of the two aircrafts will be used by the Navy for maritime surveillance and reconnaissance operations inside and outside Sri Lanka, as well as for surveillance in Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone.
A team of five Indian technical officers will be sent to Sri Lanka to service the first Dornier aircraft and to train Sri Lanka Navy and Air Force personnel. Sri Lankan Government will bear their medical, accommodation, telephone, internet, transport and other expenses.
The most serious issue here was that, Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Kamal Gunaratne has signed the exchange letter, pertaining to the agreement provided by the Indian High Commissioner on the 15 March without the approval of the Cabinet.
The Cabinet Memorandum, signed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa as the Minister of Defence on 18 March 2022 stated that correspondence has to be exchanged prior to the Basil Rajapaksa’s visit to India. Accordingly, it is clear that this deal has been done arbitrarily, bypassing Cabinet altogether.
Another Cabinet Memorandum dated 18 March 2022, signed by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as the Minister of Defence, entitled ‘Acquisition of a 4,000 tonnes Floating Dock for the Sri Lanka Navy by the Financial Sponsorship of the Government of India’, is another such agreement.
Accordingly, the contract agreement for the construction of the floating dockyard was scheduled to be signed by Sri Lanka with the Goa Dockyard Company of India on 22 March 2022.
However, the agreement between the two countries has already been signed by authorities on 15 March. It was signed on behalf of Sri Lanka by the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Kamal Gunaratne and the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gopal Bagle.
This agreement was also reached under the guise of ‘pending cabinet approval’. This agreement with India has been reached despite a previous Cabinet decision was taken on 19 February 2020 to acquire the floating dock under international competitive bidding system.
Following all these agreements, the Cabinet Memorandum dated 18 March sought that Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Nishantha Ulugethenna be authorised to sign the contract on behalf of the Sri Lanka Navy.
The third is a Cabinet Memorandum titled ‘Providing, Establishing and Commissioning the Maritime Search and Rescue Coordinating Centre’. It describes the background to the agreement, citing the non-implementation of the Cabinet decision of 26 April 2017 to establish a maritime rescue coordinating centre in Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, the centre is to be built using USD 6 million provided by Delhi and has been approved by the Cabinet, dated 9 October 2019. Bharath Electronics Limited, the company selected to set up the centre, manufactures electronics and systems for the Indian military forces and comes under the direct purview of Indian Ministry of Defence..
The fourth agreement is the Cabinet Memorandum submitted by the Ministry of Technology entitled ‘Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of India and the Acquisition of Financial Assistance for the Implementation of the Sri Lanka Unified Digital Identity Framework’..
Critics say the digital system collects data on blood type, fingerprints, and facial identities, for good or bad reasons. They further point out that this initiative risks making it easier for Indian security intelligence to acquire the nation’s own database. However, this agreement has not yet been signed and the relevant draft has been prepared.
