Ethnic Crisis in Sri Lanka and Role of India

Reasons why India has been a participant in the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka:

1. Sinhalese majority believes in the centralization of power and this has

resulted in the marginalization of the Tamil minority. It has enacted
legislations such as the Citizenship Act of 1948 which resulted not only in
disenfranchising the Tamils but also made them stateless. This resulted in a
refugee crisis in India.
2. Also, the Tamil sentiments in India lie with their brethren across the border.

India’s Role:

• The distinction between India and Sri Lankan Tamils in Sri Lanka which was
clearly maintained during the Nehru Era was diluted because of the growing
marginalization of the Tamils in general in Sri Lanka by the 1970s.

• When Colombo blockade Jaffna Indian Government under Operation

Poomalai air-dropped food aid violating Sri Lankan Air Space.
• India was against any military solution to the crisis. Colombo unable to garner
international support against India was pressurized to sign the India-Sri Lanka
Accord of 1987.

Provisions of India-Sri-Lanka Accord 1987

I. External dimensions:
o It prohibits Sri Lanka to allow foreign warships to dock in Sri
Lankan waters. It also prohibits the presence of military and
intelligence personnel of foreign countries to be present in Sri
Lanka.

II. Domestic Provisions/Dimension:

o Provincial Autonomy for the Tamil majority provinces
o Three language solutions- official recognition to Sinhalese,
Tamil, and English
o LTTE to join mainstream politics

Note

• To implement these provisions Sri Lanka had to bring

the 13th Amendment to its constitution.
• There is domestic resentment in Sri Lanka with regard to the 13 th
Constitutional Amendment. They demand Home Grown
Solution and look at the 13th Amendment as externally imposed
on Sri Lanka.
 • India had sent the Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) to Sri Lanka to
maintain the ceasefire while the Sri Lankan government undertake the
necessary amendment.
• But since consultation with the Tamils/LTTE was done in haste and since it was
not made a participant in the accord, there was no guarantee of its compliance.
• Consequently, India lost 1200 Army men and the former Indian Prime Minister
was assassinated.
• Then India adopted the Hands-Off Policy in Sri Lanka.

4th Eelam War

• The 4th Eelam War commenced under former President Mahinda Rajapaksha.
• New Delhi extended support to Sri Lanka- without directly getting involved in
the war. It shared intelligence that enabled Sri Lanka to destroy ships
bringing Arms and ammunition to LTTE.
• This played a critical role to Sri Lanka’s victory in the war.
• India’s support was guaranteed on the conditions that after the end of the
war Sri Lanka would implement the 13 th Constitutional Amendment and
devolve the necessary powers to the Tamil majority provinces.
• However, Mahinda Rajapaksha went bank on its promise and Sri Lanka was
quite reluctant to stand up to its commitment vis-à-vis the Tamil minority.
• Indian Government found its hand-tied with respect to Sri Lanka while the
domestic concern was in support of the Tamilian cause and therefore the UPA
government also under the pressure of DMK (its coalition partner) voted in
support of the UNHRC resolution against Sri Lanka in 2012 and 2013.
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(Thereby, India crossed Sri Lankan redlines).

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• However, the Indian Government diluted the language of the resolution to be

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less critical of Sri Lanka.

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• In 2014 India abstained and under the Srisena - Wickremsinghe Government,

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Sri Lanka co-authored such resolution in UNHRC.

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The elusive political solution in Sri Lanka:

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• The Sri Lankan Tamils demand:

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o They demand equality, dignity and right to self-determination within

a united, undivided and indivisible Sri Lanka.
o Despite the power devolution enshrined in the Constitution through
the 13th amendment for nearly 4 decades, there has not been a single
piece of legislation to implement it.

• In fact the 13th amendment act has always been contentious:

o For the Sinhalese opposing it, it is an Indian imposition; it would

devolve “too much power” to the Tamils at the provincial level; and
be a threat the central government at Colombo.
 o This position disregards the fact that the amendment guarantees the
same measure of devolution powers to all 9 provinces, 7 of which are
Sinhala majority areas of Sri Lanka.

o The Tamils, on the other hand have maintained that the legislation,
under Sri Lanka’s unitary Constitution, entails very limited powers
that don’t amount to meaningful devolution.

o All the same, some see it as a “starting point” in negotiating a more

wholesome and durable political settlement, for the 13th Amendment
is currently the only legislative guarantee of some power sharing,
even if widely considered inadequate.

o Although the Amendment gave provinces legislative power over

agriculture, education, health, housing, local government, planning,
road transport and social services, the Centre is all-powerful,
because of an ambiguous concurrent list and certain overriding
clauses in the Constitution.

• Recently in NEWS:

o President Ranil Wickresinghe announced that prior to the 75 th

independence day celebrations on 4th Feb 2023, he would ensure
that the country’s long-pending ethnic questions is resolved. He
remarked that it is his responsibility to implement the 13th amendment
which has been part of the Sri Lankan constitution for almost 37 years
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or someone should abolish it.

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o However, once again the deadline of devolution has been missed. In

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the past as well several Sri Lankan leaders have promised to

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implement the 13th amendment provisions only to not follow through.

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o The reason being absence of necessary political will in Sri Lanka to

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implement it.
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o The threat of separatism, an idea that the Tamils gave up years ago
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is cited to derail the process or economic development in the war

battered region is pitched as an alternative to implement the 13 th
amendment.

• India’s role in the Sri Lankan Tamil Question:

o India has been historically an arbiter on the Sri Lankan Tamil

question.

o Critics argue that India, pre-occupied with countering Chinese

influence in Sri Lanka, does little more than make customary
statements on the need to implement the 13th Amendment.
 • Where does that leave Sri Lanka’s war-affected Tamil community in the
north and east?

o After decades of relentless agitations, the long-pending political

solution remains elusive.

Recent Economic Crisis in Sri Lanka

• Whereby it went bankrupt and defaulted on its $51 billion external debt in
2022.

Evidence

1. It is the worst economic crisis that Sri Lanka has found itself in since its
independence.
2. The Sri Lankan government owed 51 billion dollars and it was unable to service
even interest payments on its loans. The largest source of debt is by far due to
market borrowings followed closely by loans taken up from Asian Development
Bank, China, Japan, etc.
3. It had only about Forex reserve of 50 million dollars half of which is unusable.
Its Forex had dropped 99% from 2019 until now.
4. Its currency had collapsed by 80% making imports nearly prohibitive.
5. Inflation is out of control with food cost up by 57%.
6. Sri Lanka as a result is moving towards bankruptcy.

Reasons
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Years of economic mismanagement and corruption have created a twin deficit

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i.e. fiscal deficit and a current account deficit.

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2. Faulty government policies such as-

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a) The largest tax cuts were announced by the Gotabaya Rajapaksha

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government while Sri Lanka needed to boost its revenue to repay foreign
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debt.
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b) The government suddenly banned imports of chemical fertilizers and

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pesticides to save the forex. This caught farmers' input price rise and
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decimated their staple rice crop, driving up the food prices. The push for
organic farming was ill-considered.
3. Tourism, a major source of revenue, flat-lined because of the 2019 Easter
Bombing and COVID-19 pandemic.
4. The Ukrainian War has pushed global food and oil prices higher.

What is Sri Lankan Government doing about the Crisis

1. It had negotiated with the IMF, a bailout plan for its current economic crisis. The
IMF has approved $2.9 billion bailout package for Sri Lanka. However it has
come after a delay.

One of the reason for it was delay in China providing a written assurance to IMF
conveying its willingness to restructure Sri Lankan loans. India took the lead
 and sent the assurance to the fund this January. The Paris Club group of
creditors which includes Japan followed suit.

The reason why Sri Lanka sees the IMF $2.9 billion package as an important
milestone in economic risk recovery though its monthly imports exceed that
amount is because it would help Sri Lanka become more credit worthy for
global lenders be it multilateral agencies like World Bank or Asian development
bank, the bilateral partners or private creditors.

2. It sought help from other countries. Governments like the US, Japan, and
Australia have provided a few hundred million dollars in support.
3. UN had launched a worldwide appeal for assistance.

India’s assistance to Sri Lanka

1. India has extended a total of 4 billion dollars comprising $400 Mn as

currency swap, $500 Mn of loan deferral, Line of credits, as economic
assistance to Sri Lanka which is the essential lifeline for Sri Lanka.
2. India has provided under credit line 44000 metric tonnes of urea and 16000
metric tonnes of rice to help it resolve its food insecurity.
3. India has also provided drugs and medical supplies as well as sent
vegetables, sugar, and wheat as humanitarian assistance. This has
resulted in the pro-India opinion in Sri Lanka.
4. Also, India has supported Sri Lanka to obtain aid and assistance from IMF. In
fact, India’s finance minister with IMF officials argued Sri Lanka’s case long
before Colombo itself had taken such initiative in the matter.
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5. India was the first country to hand over its letter of support for financing and
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debt restructuring of Sri Lanka to the International Monetary Fund.

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China in Sri Lanka

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Reasons:

• Given the asymmetric nature of India-Sri Lanka relations, the Sinhalese leaders
are apprehensive of India’s objectives and therefore seek relations with China
to counterbalance India’s influence.
• In recent history, during the Mahinda Rajapaksha tenure, the Chinese tilt was
evident.

1. China provided offensive weapons in its 4th Eelam war.

2. Sri Lanka was looking at China for economic and diplomatic backing
when the west was threatening to sanction Colombo for the war crimes
it committed.
3. Sri Lanka banks upon the use of the veto by China and Russia in UNSC
on resolutions against Sri Lanka.
 4. India in 2012 and 2013 in fact voted against Sri Lanka on a country-
specific resolution (an unusual step for India) in UNHRC.

Evidence of China in Sri Lanka

1. Sri Lank has been a keen supporter of Chinese BRI. In fact, it became a
poster child of Chinese expansion through its debt policy.
2. China is the biggest foreign investor in Sri Lanka. For example, the Colombo
Port city project, Hambantota Port which has been leased out for 99 years for
China, Colombo international container terminals, etc.
3. China is the biggest bilateral creditor to China. China’s debt composition in Sri
Lanka moved from 0.3 percent to 16 percent between 2000 and 2016. By the
end of 2022, China’s debt stock in Sri Lanka had reached some US$7.3 billion,
amounting to 19.6 percent of Colombo’s public external debt.
4. China in recent years has changed the nature of loans to Sri Lanka: From the
Project loans which can be used for the subscribed projects only to
Syndicated Loans whereby Sri Lanka is free to use Chinese assistance for the
purposes, it sees fit including to address adverse BoP.
5. China in recent years has diversified into new areas such as agriculture,
plantations, food processing, etc.

Impact on India

• Creates strategic concerns for India.

Response of Sri Lanka.

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1. Sri Lanka has committed to follow a neutral foreign policy i.e. engaged with
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other countries for diplomatic and economic relations but will follow India First
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policy in strategic and security matters. However, It has violated its

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commitment to India’s concerns regarding security in the past.

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It crossed Indian redlines when it allowed Chinese conventional submarines to

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visit Colombo twice in 2014. It was the first time that a Chinese submarine
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openly visited a foreign country or registered its presence in the Indian Ocean.
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Recently Yuan Wang 5 (YW 5) ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship
docked at the Hambantota port for replenishment. It raised security concerns
for India because it was capable of electronic surveillance on the Indian coast
and the coastal states.

Response of India

1. India has sought to counter-balance Chinese economic footprints through its

own economic projects such as Trincomalee Oil Farm Tanks. Matalla Air Port,
Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) of the Colombo Port. But most of these
projects were cancelled.

Recently when the Eastern Container Terminal (ECT) project was cancelled by
Sri Lanka on grounds of local opposition. And as compensation it has offered
 an 85% percent stake of Western Container Terminal (WCT) to the India-Japan
consortium.
2. Development Assistance:
o India has funded the ambulances and trained the Sri Lankan Staff for the
Suwa Seria Ambulance Service of Sri Lanka.
o India is undertaking housing projects in Northern, Central, and Southern
Provinces for the Tamils in Sri Lanka apart from other high-impact
development assessments.

3. Balanced Chinese hard power through India’s soft power:

o The Buddhist connection between the two countries is emphasized as
outreach to the Sinhala majority.
o In 2020 India earmarked an extra 15 million dollars for the preservation
of Buddhist heritage and has committed to facilitate the Sri Lankan
pilgrims to travel to Kushinagar.

Conclusion:

• China has pledged to continue its support to Colombo at the UNHRC.

From the Sri Lankan Perspective also China along with Russia could be
counted upon to use their veto in the UNSC.

India on the other hand is not a P5 country, this is an important strategic reality
shaping Sri Lanka's foreign policy vis-à-vis India and China.

• Unlike India, China’s approach to Sri Lanka is not complicated by any

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domestic factor and it can continue unconstrained outreach to the Sinhalese

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majority who hold power in Sri Lanka.

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On the other hand domestic Tamil opinion prevent India from backing Sri Lanka
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on the UNHRC.
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Steps that India can take

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• It can explore the possibility of co-authored resolutions in UNHRC like when

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Wikremesinghe was the PM between 2014 to 2019.

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• Also, India should impress upon the US and its other western allies the genuine
security interest of India in Sri Lanka. They should be willing to acknowledge
south Asia and Indian Ocean Region as India’s traditional sphere of influence
and not take steps that sideline India to create vacancies for China to be filled.

• The erstwhile USSR considers it of such Indian interest and its residual
influence on India-Russia ties is still there for the west to see.