New Delhi: Sounding rather cautious on SAARC future Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wikramasinghe on his visit to New Delhi in a veiled warning on the existence of the South Asian body said it has been impacted by the current India-Pakistan tension and that 'nothing has moved forward in the past few years'.
SL Prime Minister Ranil Wikramasinghe talking to reporters said on Wednesday that 'Saarc may become non-functional' due to this tension. He said he had detailed discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saarc’s future. He also said, 'Cross-border terrorism might worsen if SAARC is thrown away.'
'Sri Lanka has options”, he said, adding that if things within Saarc didn’t improve, 'each country will have to look at its options'. The Sri Lankan PM also commended India for its 'strategic restraint' in the wake of the Uri terror attack and surgical strikes on terrorists, saying 'PM Modi has handled it well so far'.
The Sri Lankan PM said 'cross-border terrorism is on the table' before the SAARC nations but that war was not an option between India and Pakistan.
'I don’t think war (India-Pakistan) is an option. Your Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has taken a lot of steps to defuse tensions,' said Wickramasinghe who is in Delhi on a three-day visit. He went on to add that Modi must be complimented for showing 'the restraint he has shown. Cross border terrorism is a big issue (in SAARC) and we have to discuss how to tackle it.'
The Sri Lankan PM suggested that SAARC countries must discuss how to tackle cross border terrorism. 'Cross-border terrorism is on the table. Saarc has to look at it and discuss what has happened (cancellation of the Saarc summit). How we are going to handle it? SAARC has to decide on two issues — cross-border terrorism and areas in which we can work together... If we don’t do it, there is no future for Saarc,' the Sri Lankan PM said.
Asked what the options were before Sri Lanka, he said Sri Lankans were internally discussing it. But the Sri Lankan PM also said 'there should be no cross-border terrorism in India'. Lavishing praise on the Indian PM, he added, 'Everyone compliments PM Modi for his approach.' Mr Wikramasinghe said there were no differences between his country and India on this score.
'There is no future for Saarc unless cross-border terrorism is brought to the table for discussion'. Wikramasinghe explained that the issue of cross-border terrorism is of concern to many members of Saarc and has to be dealt with if the group wants to remain relevant. He said a decision on this vital issue has to be taken soon.
Condemning cross border terrorism that has affected India, Sri Lankan Prime Minister, Ranil Wikramasinghe on Wednesday said that the issue can only be resolved through dialogue and war is not an option.
Sri Lanka had pulled out of the 19th SAARC summit on September 30th after four other countries including India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan had decided to drop out of it. India had pulled put of the summit citing the ongoing tensions between the India and Pakistan post the attack on Indian soldiers at Uri. Last month, the country expressed its unwillingness to attend the event, saying the prevailing environment in the region is not conducive for holding the summit.
On being asked why did it take so long for SriLanka to pull out he said, 'Afghanistan and Bangladesh have problem of own internal security. We didn’t but after four nations pulled out of SAARC, we too did'. Mr Wikramasinghe said while terrorism was also affecting the internal situation in both Afghanistan and Bangladesh (that had communicated their boycott of the Islamabad Saarc summit along with India), this was not affecting the internal situation in Sri Lanka.
On India-Sri Lanka relations, the Sri Lankan Prime minister elaborated some future plans.
On India-Sri Lanka fishing dispute, the Prime Minister said that there will be joint talks between fishermen associations on both sides. 'In first week of November there will be talks between Ministers of Foreign Affairs and fishery of India and Sri Lanka.' On the issue of fishermen, Wikramasinghe said, “Please come to Jaffna and see the suffering of our fishermen. Our Tamil fishermen raised the same concerns. The fishermen associations of both sides will meet in November.”
On Sri Lanka's relations with China vis a vis its relations with India, Wikramasinghe said that Sri Lanka’s relations with China were "economic and not military." The Prime Minister said that while Colombo had these two major projects with China, its economic ties with India was much more.
"With India, we are doing a lot more... infrastructure projects, road projects, military co operation…. China has no military presence in projects such as Hambantota (the port built by China). But with India, we have strategic and military ties"
“By the time we took over, China had already given loans for the Hambantota harbour and the airport, nothing more. China has no military presence in projects like Hambantota (the port built by China). But with India, we have strategic and military ties"
Talking about the ETCA pact PM said, "The proposed ETCA which includes five states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Telangana will be signed by the end of this year... Prime Minister Modi and I have decided that we must conclude it by the end of this year."
Prime Minister Modi had visited Sri Lanka as his government’s focus has been India’s immediate neighborhood. Modi had announced on e-visa on arrival for Sri Lankans apart from a $318 million Line of Credit for upgradation of Sri Lankan Railways and to develop Trincomalee as “petroleum hub”.
