Over the past few months, Sri Lanka has found a guardian angel. And with it, the time has come to contend with the issue of geopolitically toxic generosity. The country, floundering as it is in the lower depths of political, economic, and now, legal crises, has found an Asiatic guardian angel, risen from the subtropics of the East, in the form of motherly and big-brotherly India.
Across the Atlantic, Sri Lanka is negotiating – perhaps, penitent surrender would be a more appropriate description of the situation faced by the local delegation in Washington, D.C. – sans any bargaining chips, except the beggar’s (of the can’t-be-choosers kind) bowl of external debt defaulting, bridge financing, and the dolorous hymn of a Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) and an Extended Fund Facility-based bailout, a most, by all accounts, painful economic rehabilitation programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On the home front, the Government, with its somewhat new Cabinet of Ministers, is busy enacting a homegrown, all-guns-blazing version of The Most Dangerous Game by declaring open season, on the marooned citizenry, who, as last week’s blood shedding in Rambukkana on 19 April brought to light, only wanted the pre-18 April midnight, albeit insufficient to meet the demand, oil stocks, to be sold at the pre-18 April midnight prices, before the post-18 April Ceylon Petroleum Corporation fuel price hike came into effect (two increases within a month, and not to mention the five price hikes of the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation within six months), and who – unlike the anarchists observed by the band Sex Pistols in the UK, who don’t know what they want, but know how to get it – know precisely what they want, but don’t know exactly how to get it.
It is in this context that India has decided to play “Good Samaritan” to her fallen-on-hard-times, down-on-its-luck neighbour. How has India helped Sri Lanka? Well, for starters, Sri Lanka’s Treasury has shifted its address from Colombo Fort to the Union Finance Ministry in New Delhi. It is India that is currently bankrolling Sri Lanka. Towards this end, India has, with some aspects of it still being processed, provided financial assistance worth approximately $ 2 billion, including multiple lines of credit to purchase fuel, food and medicines, and also deferred payments amounting to around $ 1.5 billion due from Sri Lanka for imports.
There will be more putting-the-mouth-where-the-handout-money-is requests from Sri Lanka’s side, since there is more where that came from, while from the Indian side, there will be more noblesse oblige. India’s Central Bank has also extended the duration of a currency swap which concluded in January. That is not all. What about putting in a good and kind word on behalf of the nation? India’s Finance Minister, just last week, prevailed upon the IMF to consider the grant of a RFI to Sri Lanka, after the IMF indicated to Sri Lanka that it does not meet the usual criteria for the provision of an RFI.
What a stroke of luck it is that in Sri Lanka’s darkest hour, the country with which it has the most ties with has come through. A friend in need is a friend indeed. But is it all no-strings-attached? A rare case of bilateral altruism, purely motivated by metta (loving kindness or benevolence) and karuna (compassion)? But wait, the shoe just dropped. If all this sounds too good to be true, that is probably because it is precisely that – too good to be true.
As is the case in the lives of each being, there are no free lunches in the commerce of nations either. Mercy too has an expiry date.
Getting less media time in all this news-related exigencies last week was an international news report that bilateral talks had recommenced with regard to a potential linking of the two countries’ national electricity grids, to be connected with a miles-long undersea transmission cable, after the Sri Lankan Government earlier declined to greenlight a power project in the North despite a Chinese bidder coming out on top, and thereafter awarded India’s Adani Group, whose owner is closely linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, power projects in the country’s East.
Sri Lanka’s unhealthy obsession with China had somewhat cooled since the fertiliser quality-related tug of war of last year, a mistake that cost Sri Lanka a pretty penny from the public purse for doing the right thing by rejecting a stock of tainted fertiliser. Not to be outdone in the wake of India’s interventions, the wolf warrior diplomat China has pledged continued emergency humanitarian assistance from every possible front for Sri Lanka to overcome present difficulties, and achieve economic and social stability and development.
The bottom line is that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has to come clean, divulge, and be forthcoming and transparent to Parliament, which is the arbiter of public finance, regarding what India has asked for in exchange for its generosity, and what, if not the sun and the moon, Sri Lanka has promised in return, and specific details about any understandings reached in this regard, if such is in fact the case. The GoSL has a duty and responsibility to provide such in writing and to publicize the same.
Sri Lanka, which is faced with insurmountable odds in terms of extricating itself from, let alone overcoming, the economic crisis, cannot afford to be yoked to the ball and chain of toxic and unsustainable generosity originating from mutual international relations and emanating from geopolitical rivalries and battles for regional superiority. Friends and allies too have a habit of turning into, albeit never permanent, foes. Sri Lanka is not in a political fight, but a struggle to survive.
The question then is – who will guard Sri Lanka against the guardian angels?
In this instance, beggars will have to be choosers.Geopolitical ‘generosity’ and choosy beggars
24 Apr 2022
Geopolitical ‘generosity’ and choosy beggars
24 Apr 2022
Over the past few months, Sri Lanka has found a guardian angel. And with it, the time has come to contend with the issue of geopolitically toxic generosity. The country, floundering as it is in the lower depths of political, economic, and now, legal crises, has found an Asiatic guardian angel, risen from the subtropics of the East, in the form of motherly and big-brotherly India.
Across the Atlantic, Sri Lanka is negotiating – perhaps, penitent surrender would be a more appropriate description of the situation faced by the local delegation in Washington, D.C. – sans any bargaining chips, except the beggar’s (of the can’t-be-choosers kind) bowl of external debt defaulting, bridge financing, and the dolorous hymn of a Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) and an Extended Fund Facility-based bailout, a most, by all accounts, painful economic rehabilitation programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On the home front, the Government, with its somewhat new Cabinet of Ministers, is busy enacting a homegrown, all-guns-blazing version of The Most Dangerous Game by declaring open season, on the marooned citizenry, who, as last week’s blood shedding in Rambukkana on 19 April brought to light, only wanted the pre-18 April midnight, albeit insufficient to meet the demand, oil stocks, to be sold at the pre-18 April midnight prices, before the post-18 April Ceylon Petroleum Corporation fuel price hike came into effect (two increases within a month, and not to mention the five price hikes of the Lanka Indian Oil Corporation within six months), and who – unlike the anarchists observed by the band Sex Pistols in the UK, who don’t know what they want, but know how to get it – know precisely what they want, but don’t know exactly how to get it.
It is in this context that India has decided to play “Good Samaritan” to her fallen-on-hard-times, down-on-its-luck neighbour. How has India helped Sri Lanka? Well, for starters, Sri Lanka’s Treasury has shifted its address from Colombo Fort to the Union Finance Ministry in New Delhi. It is India that is currently bankrolling Sri Lanka. Towards this end, India has, with some aspects of it still being processed, provided financial assistance worth approximately $ 2 billion, including multiple lines of credit to purchase fuel, food and medicines, and also deferred payments amounting to around $ 1.5 billion due from Sri Lanka for imports.
There will be more putting-the-mouth-where-the-handout-money-is requests from Sri Lanka’s side, since there is more where that came from, while from the Indian side, there will be more noblesse oblige. India’s Central Bank has also extended the duration of a currency swap which concluded in January. That is not all. What about putting in a good and kind word on behalf of the nation? India’s Finance Minister, just last week, prevailed upon the IMF to consider the grant of a RFI to Sri Lanka, after the IMF indicated to Sri Lanka that it does not meet the usual criteria for the provision of an RFI.
What a stroke of luck it is that in Sri Lanka’s darkest hour, the country with which it has the most ties with has come through. A friend in need is a friend indeed. But is it all no-strings-attached? A rare case of bilateral altruism, purely motivated by metta (loving kindness or benevolence) and karuna (compassion)? But wait, the shoe just dropped. If all this sounds too good to be true, that is probably because it is precisely that – too good to be true.
As is the case in the lives of each being, there are no free lunches in the commerce of nations either. Mercy too has an expiry date.
Getting less media time in all this news-related exigencies last week was an international news report that bilateral talks had recommenced with regard to a potential linking of the two countries’ national electricity grids, to be connected with a miles-long undersea transmission cable, after the Sri Lankan Government earlier declined to greenlight a power project in the North despite a Chinese bidder coming out on top, and thereafter awarded India’s Adani Group, whose owner is closely linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, power projects in the country’s East.
Sri Lanka’s unhealthy obsession with China had somewhat cooled since the fertiliser quality-related tug of war of last year, a mistake that cost Sri Lanka a pretty penny from the public purse for doing the right thing by rejecting a stock of tainted fertiliser. Not to be outdone in the wake of India’s interventions, the wolf warrior diplomat China has pledged continued emergency humanitarian assistance from every possible front for Sri Lanka to overcome present difficulties, and achieve economic and social stability and development.
The bottom line is that the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has to come clean, divulge, and be forthcoming and transparent to Parliament, which is the arbiter of public finance, regarding what India has asked for in exchange for its generosity, and what, if not the sun and the moon, Sri Lanka has promised in return, and specific details about any understandings reached in this regard, if such is in fact the case. The GoSL has a duty and responsibility to provide such in writing and to publicize the same.
Sri Lanka, which is faced with insurmountable odds in terms of extricating itself from, let alone overcoming, the economic crisis, cannot afford to be yoked to the ball and chain of toxic and unsustainable generosity originating from mutual international relations and emanating from geopolitical rivalries and battles for regional superiority. Friends and allies too have a habit of turning into, albeit never permanent, foes. Sri Lanka is not in a political fight, but a struggle to survive.
The question then is – who will guard Sri Lanka against the guardian angels?
In this instance, beggars will have to be choosers.Kapruka
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Discover Kapruka, the leading online shopping platform in Sri Lanka, where you can conveniently send Gifts and Flowers to your loved ones for any event. Explore a wide range of popular Shopping Categories on Kapruka, including Toys, Groceries, Electronics, Birthday Cakes, Fruits, Chocolates, Automobile, Mother and Baby Products, Clothing, and Fashion. Additionally, Kapruka offers unique online services like Money Remittance, Astrology, Medicine Delivery, and access to over 700 Top Brands. Also If you’re interested in selling with Kapruka, Partner Central by Kapruka is the best solution to start with. Moreover, through Kapruka Global Shop, you can also enjoy the convenience of purchasing products from renowned platforms like Amazon and eBay and have them delivered to Sri Lanka.Send love straight to their heart this Valentine's with our thoughtful gifts!