Former Navy Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, said that the National People’s Power (NPP) government owed the public an explanation regarding Indian media reports of the cancellation of joint naval exercise involving SLN and PNS (Pakistan Navy Ship) Aslat off Trincomalee.

Weerasekera, who also served as the Public Security Minister during Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s presidency, asked whether the recently signed MoU on defence cooperation with India paved the way for New Delhi to interfere in bilateral relations between Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Acknowledging that the MoU on defence cooperation hadn’t been signed at the time Sri Lanka cancelled planned naval exercise off Trincomalee, the former parliamentarian said that the issue at hand should be examined also taking into consideration the one year ban imposed on foreign research vessels on 01 January, 2024, bythe then President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Weerasekera contested Colombo district at the last parliamentary polls on the SLPP ticket but couldn’t retain his seat.

That was meant to bar Chinese research vessels from visiting Sri Lanka, ex-MP Weerasekera said, urging the government to explain its stand on the ban imposed by Wickremesinghe. Referring to government statements that dealt with foreign research vessels late last year, the former Minister said that the government couldn’t keep silent on this issue.

We would like to know the status quo with regard to foreign research vessels, Weerasekera said.

Responding to The Island queries, the former lawmaker, who once served as Chairman of the Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on National Security, said that the government was yet to table the MoU on defence cooperation with India in Parliament. In fact, none of the MoUs that had been signed with India on 05 April were presented to Parliament yet and the Opposition should pressure the government to reveal the contents, the former Colombo district MP said.

Pointing out that the government had done away with the SOC on national security when the Parliament, in consultation with the UNDP, restructured the SOC system, thereby accommodated the vital subject under SOC on Governance, Justice and Civil Protection, Weerasekera emphasised that the Opposition should vigorously take up this issue.

Dr. Najith Indika heads the SOC on Governance, Justice and Civil Protection. Former Minister Weerasekera said that Pakistan was one of the few countries, along with China and Russia, that always backed Sri Lanka at the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council over the years.

Weerasekera said that the Sri Lanka-India defence cooperation MoU was yet to be taken up at the SOC level.

Weerasekera alleged that India was taking advantage of the situation as it tightened its grip on the government. The former Minister said that the government seemed to have meekly succumbed to Indian pressure and caused irreparable damage to long standing ties with Pakistan. Sri Lanka couldn’t, under any circumstances, forget the unprecedented support provided by Pakistan throughout the war against the LTTE, Weerasekera said.

Among the armaments that had been provided by Pakistan were multi-barrel rocket launchers that were deployed in the northern and eastern theatres during Eelam War IV, especially in the aftermath of the LTTE laying siege to the Jaffna peninsula after the fall of the vital Elephant Pass and was threatening to storm the last bastion in the North.

The former Minister said that Sri Lanka paid a huge price to bring the war, initiated by India, to an end.

Meanwhile, top SJB spokesman Mujibur Rahman said that the NPP should be ashamed to ask MPs to seek MoUs signed with India through the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Parliamentarian Rahman said that he was quite surprised and disappointed by the position taken by Health Minister and Cabinet spokesman, Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, that those who wanted the MoU on defence cooperation should do so through the RTI Act. “This is nothing but a joke. The Cabinet spokesman’s current stand is contrary to what the JVP has been saying over the years.”

By Shamindra Ferdinando