AKD's 'double pocket' diplomacy?

THE Defence Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), exchanged when PM Narendra Modi visited Sri Lanka has become a thorn in the flesh of several anti AKD Government spokespersons.

- By Austin Fernando

In Parliament he Minister Vidura Herath mentioned the Right to Information Act facilitation to obtain a copy of the MoU. If it is so simple, the counter-query is why he did not share it, saying, “Hon. Speaker table the Defence Cooperation MoU arrived between India and Sri Lanka”.

JVP’s Secretary General Tilvin Silva, probably embarrassed, confirmed that all MoUs were tabled in the Parliament, adding salt to Minister Herath’s wounds. Its non-availability in the public domain rightly creates speculation about the contents.

The unseen MoU

There are many items in name tagging the document. Some say, it is an MoU; another; an Agreement or a Framework. Interpreters give different meanings to these but are used com plemenarily.

According to the media, it is an umbrella framework, aimed at enhancing and institutionalising bilateral defence cooperation. As observed by former Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, it “will make existing defence cooperation initiatives more structured, and include high-level military exercises, capacity building, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and naval port calls (which are the standard), and exclusionary discussion on defence cooperation.

In diplomacy, an “Exploratory discussion” is a preliminary or informal exchange of ideas, often used to explore possible solutions before formal negotiations or agreements. However, this terminology was blurred a hornet’s nest. Finally it must set boundaries, and decide to avoid participating in certain initiatives, that may create conflicts with others. More importantly, we know who has issues with whom at heart.