Bottom trawling: Right and Might

Indian Prime Minister Narndra Modi’s three-day visit here was predictably heralded by a blaze of publicity in the local press and electronic media. This was no cause for surprise given that good relations with our giant neighbour, or Big Brother as some would prefer to style it, must remain the cornerstone of Sri Lanka’s foreign policy. New Delhi accurately judged in which direction the political winds were blowing well ahead of last year’s presidential and parliamentary elections and invited the soon to be President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to visit India where he was well received.

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Weeks after being elected president, and scoring a better than two thirds majority in the parliamentary election that followed shortly thereafter, Dissanayake paid a state visit to India, his very first after being elected and was very warmly welcomed.

Prime Minister Modi is now here on a reciprocal visit and has a crowded agenda including a visit to Anuradhapura where he will pay homage to the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhiya grown from a sapling of the bo tree in India under which the Buddha attained enlightenment; and formally inaugurate the Maho-Anuradhapura railway signaling system and the newly ungraded Maho-Omanthai railway line, both assisted by India. Several memorandums of understanding, including possibly a Defence Co-operation Agreement, kept under wraps at the time of writing this comment, are subject to be exchanged. Official word on the subject is that matters to be covered in the MOUs include energy, digitization, security and healthcare along with agreements relating to India’s debt restructuring assistance. But no details have been forthcoming.