Friday, 21st November 2014
President Rajapaksa’s grand goodwill gesture
Securing the release of the five Indian fishermen, who were sentenced by a Sri Lankan court to death on charges of drug-smuggling, marks a huge diplomatic victory for the Narendra Modi Government. The fishermen were arrested in 2011 and handed the death penalty by a Colombo court this October 30. Even though it was unlikely that the men would actually be executed — Sri Lanka hasn't carried out a death sentence since 1974 — the matter had, nonetheless, turned into a diplomatic row.
As expected, Tamil leaders in India were quick to jump into the fray and call upon New Delhi to take high-handed action against the Sri Lankan Government. Even a few members of the ruling coalition at the Centre joined the bandwagon and pointed fingers at the Prime Minister for his supposedly callous attitude towards the fishermen. They criticised the BJP-led NDA Government for continuing with the Congress-led UPA's pusillanimous approach towards the India-Sri Lanka relationship. A senior Tamil leader even sought to link the fishermen's issue to India's defence ties with Sri Lanka, while another was just a step away from demanding that New Delhi cut ties with Colombo.
Thankfully, the Centre paid little heed to the shrill cries coming out of Chennai, and focussed on working with the Government in Sri Lanka to secure the release of the fishermen. After days of quiet but efficient diplomacy, that included a phone call from Prime Minister Modi to President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the purpose was achieved. This is a reminder that while passionate rhetoric may make for good political theatre, it hardly ever serves the larger public interest. In the arena of international relations especially, there is little that is achieved by loud grandstanding; instead, the key to success lies in leveraging strengths and weaknesses to negotiate a middle path. This is what New Delhi and Colombo have done.
For example, while President Rajapaksa deserves praise for using his executive powers to pardon the fishermen, it will be naïve to assume that he doesn't expect India to reciprocate the goodwill gesture. Abstaining from or rejecting the next anti-Sri Lanka vote at the UN Human Rights Council, for one, will be an effective way for India to return the favour. Notably, earlier this year, President Rajapaksa had released several Indian fishermen arrested by the Sri Lankan Navy for poaching, after the UPA Government, which had previously toed the Western line at the international forum and censured Colombo for alleged human rights violations, finally took a strong stand and refused to run down his Government yet again. Two months later, President Rajapaksa released two more groups of Indian fishermen as a goodwill gesture, before and after attending Mr Modi's inaugural ceremony. That prominent leaders from Tamil Nadu had boycotted that ceremony to protest against President Rajapaksa’s presence and his Government's alleged mistreatment of the Lankan Tamil population, speaks volumes.
From : http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/edit/colombo-reaches-out.html
