AID, TO OUR AID

Lots of mutual suspicions between India and Sri Lanka are in the process of being removed

- REKHA DIXIT

SRI LANKA’S FINANCE Minister Basil Rajapaksa took home a cheque of $1 billion during his March visit to New Delhi, for purchase of essential commodities. This is in addition to aid given a few months earlier to buy fuel, and foreign exchange. India’s total relief package to the island is already at around $2.5 billion. A substantial amount, no doubt.

India’s aid should go a long way in helping Sri Lanka come out of its economic crisis. But India’s is not the only helping hand out there. China, whose investments in the country are deep, also announced a $500 million urgent relief package, and also extended the payment of previous loans.

China’s entry into the Indian Ocean over the last decade, and its active wooing of countries that traditionally relied on India for their security needs, has unsettled waters. Way back in 2005, Sri Lanka had, with consent from all political factions, affirmed that it would turn to India for its security needs. However, where development assistance was concerned, it would go anywhere where there was money. In today’s scenario, Mr Moneybags is China. “Sri Lanka has been pretty consistent on this front. However, our interpretations may have changed because of changing perceptions,” said N. Sathiya Moorthy, head of the Observer Research Foundation’s Chennai chapter. “China may only be a development partner, yet there is no assurance that China won’t misuse this situation to India’s strategic discomfort.”