By Shamindra Ferdinando

A pair of Chinese built F-7 multi-role jet fighters flew over SLAF China Bay parade grounds, within minutes after President Ranil Wickremesinghe arrived there, on March 03, to take the salute, as the Chief Guest, at a Commissioning and Wings parade of the No 65 Officer Cadets’ Intake, comprising a total of 40 officers, belonging to No. 17 Lady Officer Cadets’ Intake, and the No. 35 and No. 37 Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) Intakes.

F7s flew from Katunayake air base, the home to the famed No. 05 Squadron that played a significant role, during the Eelam War IV (August 2006-May 2009).

The Commissioning and Wings parade coincided with the 72nd anniversary of the Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF). The F-7 GS’ flew immediately after President Wickremesinghe, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, arrived at the saluting dais.

It would be pertinent to mention that SLAF Chief, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana, veteran jet pilot, on whose invitation President Wickremesinghe attended the China Bay event, was among the three-member group that recommended the acquisition of Chinese interceptors, in 2007, as the war had entered its final phase, which was undoubtedly a fight to the finish against ‘the world’s most ruthless terrorist outfit’, with a formidable fighting force, comprising naval, air, and land capabilities, all of whose signature modus operandi was the suicide attack.

The group consisted of the then Group Captain Priyantha Gunasinghe (retired in the rank of Group Captain), Group Captain Sudarshana Pathirana and Wing Commander Sajeewa Hendawitharane (retired in the rank of Group Captain) asserted that the Chinese interceptors should be acquired to counter immediate LTTE air threat, and the other available aircraft, at that time, MiG 29s, acquired from Ukraine, should be considered as a long-term solution. This decision was made soon after the LTTE carried out its first air attack on the Katunayake air base, in March 2007. F-7 GS were first flown here, in January 2008. The No. 05 Squadron achieved a 5-6 minute reaction time during a scramble and was the Squadron to be on 24-hour stand by, in an interceptor role, since its deployment in early 2008.

By the time the LTTE was brought to its knees, on the Vanni east front, in May 2009, the four Chinese jets had registered altogether 506 missions. During the last phase of the ground offensive, the then Air Force Commander, Air Marshal Roshan Goonetilleke, moved a pair of those jets to China Bay, in case the top LTTE leadership made an attempt to escape, by sea. At that height of the war, the SLAF jet Squadrons consisted of Kfirs, MiG 27s and F-7s.

On the day of the China Bay parade, the writer was invited to deliver a lecture at the Naval and Maritime Academy, Trincomalee (32nd JNSC course) on ‘media management’ in armed forces or ‘military and media management.’

Well over a decade after Sri Lanka’s triumph over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the country is in a bind with the government seeking USD 2.9 bn IMF bailout package. No less a person than theGovernor of the Central Bank, Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe, recently alleged that the government had been hiding Sri Lanka’s bankruptcy status before he admitted the reality, a couple of moons ago. In an utterly destabilized environment, every sector seems to be in turmoil, no doubt exacerbated by a combination of events, including the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide attacks, crippling the vibrant tourist trade, the Covid-19 pandemic, something not scene in our living memory, hitting the whole world, the following year, thereby robbing the country’s financial sector of vital worker remittances, running to billions of dollars, by underground money transfer systems.

The armed forces are certainly not exempted. The ongoing controversy, over a three-member committee, comprising Admiral of the Fleet Wasantha Karannagoda (Governor, North Western Province), Air Chief Marshall Roshan Goonatilleke (Governor, Western Province) and ex-Army Commander Daya Ratnayake, finding fault with the then Army Commander, Gen. Shavendra Silva, for his alleged failure to bring the 09 May, 2022, violence swiftly under control. The reportage of the unexpected development is a serious challenge to those responsible for media management in armed forces. This contentious issue cannot be discussed without taking into consideration (i) Gen. Silva, the first General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the famed 58 Division (formerly Task Force 1) is the incumbent Chief of Defence Staff (ii) The role played by those at Temple Trees in instigating a hooligan attack on Galle Face protesters and (iii) the ferocity of counter meticulous attacks, mounted by well-organized groups across the country, against those in power.

The continuing economic-political-social crisis has destabilized the country to such an extent with political parties, represented in Parliament, hell-bent on advancing their own agendas, regardless of the consequences.

Like Gen. Shavendra Silva’s controversial conduct, during the events that led to the forced ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, after having been one of the significant frontline ground commanders, who took the fight to the LTTE, resulting in its eventual defeat, similarly while everyone talks about a IMF bailout to no end, day in day out, critics are legitimately asking whether all this financial turmoil was deliberately created by interested parties and even those in the highest echelons of the government have not done anything tangible to get back USD billions from export proceeds that had been parked overseas, by unscrupulous exporters, as that amount alone is enough for us to climb out of the present rut.

New move on Trinco oil tank farm

Having participated at the China Bay parade, President Wickremesinghe, accompanied by National Security Advisor and Chief of Presidential Staff, Sagala Ratnayake, and several others, including Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, toured the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm, consisting originally of 100 tanks, situated in 827 acres of land. The tank No. 91, however, was destroyed in Japanese air attacks, launched by ship-borne bombers, and attack aircraft, during World War 11. President Wickremesinghe is the first head of state to visit the Oil Tank Farm since Sri Lanka handed it over to Lanka Indian Oil Company (LIOC) during his previous tenure as the Prime Minister. The Oil Tank Farm is situated in China Bay. Managing Director of LIOC, Manoj Gupta, was there to welcome President Wickremesinghe.

In terms of the agreement, finalized on 07 February, 2003, during Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga’s tenure as the President, the LIOC took over the 99 oil tanks, each capable of holding 12,300 tonnes (1 tonne =1,000 litres) of fuel. The upper and lower tank farms consist of 85 tanks and 14 tanks, respectively.

On behalf of Sri Lanka, the then Secretary to the Treasury, Jayampathy Charitha Ratwatte ,signed the agreement, operative for a period of 35 years. In fact, the Trincomalee facility is so far covered by three agreements, namely (i) the Indo-Lanka Accord of 29 July, 1987, signed by President JRJ and PM Rajiv Gandhi (ii) the agreement on taking over of possession and related matters of the China Bay installation of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), signed on 07 February, 2003, and (iii) comprehensive agreement on cooperation in economic projects, finalized on 26 April, 2017, by Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrema.

President Wickemesinghe declared, at China Bay, in no uncertain terms, the urgent need to go ahead with the Oil Tank Farm development project.

In line with the government’s overall strategy, President Wickremesinghe recently brought in one-time Navy Commander, Admiral Ravi Wijegunaratne, as the Managing Director of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC), and to its Director Board as President’s nominee, and also as Chairman, CPC Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm Development Company. The Director Board consists of eight-four each from Sri Lanka and India. The CPC /LIOC venture is meant to speed up the entire process. National Security Advisor Sagala Ratnayake is working on this project.

Of the 99 tanks, 61 tanks are empty. President Wickremesinghe is keen to restore the unused 61 tanks to working condition. Would it be possible to store here what can be safely called the strategic Indian oil reserves?

Indian response to the 80s threat

On 29 July, 1987, President JRJ and Premier Rajiv Gandhi exchanged letters which dealt with the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm as part of the controversial Indo-Lanka Accord. They essentially addressed security issues, against the backdrop of the then growing Indian concerns that foreign military, and intelligence personnel, posed a serious threat to India. India never acknowledged that Sri Lanka wouldn’t have had to seek foreign military assistance if not for its then Premier Indira Gandhi launching a destabilisation project here by covertly training Sri Lankan Tamil armed groups, as a direct counter to then Sri Lankan President JRJ’s overt pro-Western stand, by even offering Trincomalee as a base to Washington.

India included the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm in the agreement that was meant to bring the situation under control. But, at the end of its direct intervention, India had lost 1,300 officers and men, over double that number wounded, and Rajiv Gandhi himself was blown up, in Tamil Nadu, by a female Tiger suicide bomber. It was the price India paid for interfering in Sri Lanka’s internal affairs.

At the time New Delhi’s hand was also forced by covert Western actions to destabilize and, possibly, break up India, by backing various separatist groups there. So, in a way, the Tamil separatist movement here was hijacked by the West to sow discord in India, where there are more than 60 million Tamils. The West, led by the USA and the UK, was all out to finish off India, even using Pakistan as a proxy because it was seen as being too close to the then Soviet Union. But they were halted, in their tracks, because of the solid backing that New Delhi received from Moscow, the then countervailing military power. Later, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, in the late 80s, the West found a new convenient mortal enemy in Islamic terrorists, who were in the first place incubated, in Pakistan and Afghanistan, by Washington, to chase out Russians from the latter, with the backing of wealthy Arab countries, like Saudi Arabia.

So those in Delhi should be aware that if there was no China, India would have been the West’s current number two target, after Russia. These pale faces are essentially and, undoubtedly, evil, especially if one looks at what they have done around the world by plundering and enslaving the weakest, while outwardly professing ‘all men are created equal’. At least the Russians, after their October revolution, helped to free many of the enslaved colonies. All those colonies were given independence, for fear of the spread of Communism, and certainly not because the colonial powers suddenly became enlightened.

Let me reproduce the letter, dated 29 July, 1987, signed by Rajiv Gandhi.

” (1) Conscious of the friendship between our two countries, stretching over two millennia, and more, and recognizing the importance of nurturing this traditional friendship, it is imperative that both Sri Lanka and India reaffirm the decision not to allow our respective territories to be used for activities, prejudicial to each other’s unity, territorial integrity and security.

(2) In this spirit, you had during the course of our discussions, agreed to meet some of India’s concerns as follows: (i) Your Excellency and myself will reach an early understanding about the relevance and employment of foreign military and intelligence personnel with a view to ensuring that such presence will not prejudice Indo-Sri Lankan relations; (ii) Trincomalee, or any other ports in Sri Lanka, will not be made available for military use by any country in a manner prejudicial to India’s interests; (iii) The work of restoring and operating the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm will be undertaken as a joint venture between India and Sri Lanka; (iv) Sri Lanka’s agreement with broadcasting organizations will be reviewed to ensure that any facilities set up by them in Sri Lanka are solely used as public broadcasting facilities and not for any military or intelligence purposes.

(3) In the same spirit India will: (i) Deport all Sri Lankan citizens who are found to be engaging in terrorist activities or advocating separatism or secessionism (ii) provide training facilities and military supplies for Sri Lankan security forces

(4) India and Sri Lanka have agreed to set up a joint consultative mechanism to continuously review matters of common concern in the light of the objectives stated in para 1 and specifically to monitor the implementation of other matters contained in this letter.

(5) Kindly confirm Excellency that the above correctly sets out the agreement reached between us. Please accept, Excellency, the assurances of my highest consideration.”

India raised concerns particularly over US and Israeli presence in the 80s. But, today, India is part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD), widely known as the Quad, formed to meet what the US, Japan, Australia and India perceived as the growing Chinese challenge. Sri Lanka is caught up in the Quad politics due to heavy Chinese investments here, particularly the leasing of the Hambantota Port, for a period of 99-years, to China, in 2017, by the Yahapalana government. But what is really interesting is that the same government finalized a wide ranging memorandum of understanding for cooperation in economic projects, on 26 April, 2017, with India, that covered the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm, eight months before China secured 85 percent of shares in the Hambantota Port for USD 1.12 bn.

Media management in armed forces

While the writer was working on the presentation for JNSC, the US embassy, in Colombo, in a joint press release with Sir John Kotelawela Defence University (KDU), dealt with the launch of a publication, titled ‘A Shared Vision for the Indo-Pacific: Implications for South Asia,” edited by Dr. Harendra Vidanage, at the Cinnamon Grand, one of the hotels targeted by the Easter Sunday bombers.

Vice Chancellor of the General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Major General Milinda Peiris, was among those present, along with US Ambassador here Julie J. Chung.

The joint statement quoted Rear Admiral (ret.) Peter A. Gumataotao, of the USN, as having told the gathering: “What is at stake is our ability to respond to activities that undermine the values and principles of a free and open Indo-Pacific. Competition is good, but when rules are changed, the process should be transparent and agreed on. The US embassy is busy promoting a shared vision for the Indo-Pacific. It would be pertinent to mention that the US embassy issued statements in Sinhala, Tamil and English. Obviously, the media management is part of their operation. A few days before the Cinnamon Grand event, Ambassador Chung visited Parliament. She was there to welcome the appointment of new office-bearers of the Sri Lanka-US Parliamentary Friendship Association. Rebel SLPP MP Chandima Weerakkody was elected the President of the Association.

Sri Lanka seems to be in a catch 22 situation. Contrary to repeated assurances that Sri Lanka wouldn’t take sides in China vs Quad, Sri Lanka appears to be already tilted towards the US-led grouping. The proposed operationalization of the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm should be examined against the Quad operations. Economic ruination has paved the way for external interventions as Sri Lanka struggled to cope up with growing challenges.

The armed forces and police find the situation tough as media manipulations continue. India is now part of the overall US political-security-economic policy. India actually encourages Sri Lanka to be part of the US-led club but there can be certain concerns. Unfortunately, the Opposition has conveniently missed key factors in the strategic Indo-Pacific project. The status of India-US relations is at its zenith, therefore our giant neighbour wouldn’t mind even if Sri Lanka signed the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the US. The Americans prefer to call the SOFA Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

Sri Lanka entered into the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) in August 2017 during Maithripala Sirisena’s tenure as the President. Perhaps those responsible for national security should study the circumstances President Sirisena gave into pressure that was brought to bear on him by Sri Lankan Ambassador in Washington at that time, Prasad Kariyawasam, to renew ACSA, in early August 2017. Sri Lanka first signed the ACSA in March 2007. It expired in 2017. The Yahapalana partner obviously had no objection. SOFA was first signed in 1995 during CBK’s presidency. Apparently, the United States asked Sri Lanka for a new pact and sent a draft to the Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in August 2018. SOFA, however, is on hold.

The Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact (MCC) – a project worth USD 480 mn (Rs 89 bn) – was torpedoed by a committee, headed by Prof. Lalithsiri Gunaruwan, in February 2020. The economist didn’t mince his words when he declared ACSA, SOFA and MCC could be part of the US-Indo Lanka strategy.

Political leadership, regardless of the party in power, appears to have continuously failed to examine developments/situations/events properly. For the first time such a report was prepared in Sinhala.

The government media needs to closely study developing situations. With the emergence of social media, in the past decade, as an extremely powerful tool, media management has become a tough task. Situations cannot be tackled by simply issuing statements, or trying to suppress information.

A cohesive system is required to address issues at hand. Perhaps, those handling media will have to work outside official channels to overcome challenges.

Sri Lanka’s growing dependence on foreign powers to meet its needs, ranging from essential items, including medicines, school uniforms and defence requirements, in a way portends long term problems. Sri Lanka should be certainly grateful for international support but also mindful of other factors.

A recent statement, attributed to Deputy Indian High Commissioner, Vinod K. Jacob, underscored the status of Indian assistance. Jacob declared that India offered as many as 1,500 training slots, annually, to Sri Lanka, at an annual cost of USD 7mn. Jacob was addressing a group of Indian Navy trained Sri Lanka Defence Forces personnel, on board INS Sukanya, on February 28.

Referring to India’s much-touted ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, Jacob mentioned a five-point plan to take Indo-Lanka relations to the next level. The Indian HC quoted Jacob as having said: “First is the potential for economic and financial cooperation by building on the Indian support to the people of Sri Lanka, in 2022, to the tune of USD 4 billion. The focus could be laid on areas, such as trade in national currencies, ease of investments and strengthening financial cooperation. Second, the two sides are working towards increasing air, ferry, digital and energy connectivity. Third, a new type of development cooperation partnership building on the existing multi-billion portfolio, with special emphasis on vulnerable communities, is required. Fourth, both sides need to enhance people to people exchanges, particularly in tourist movements. Fifth, it is essential to strengthen the cultural, religious, music, movie and sporting links for mutual benefit.”

Sri Lanka needs to develop a strategy of its own, drawing support from the international community. The current economic-political-social crisis should be addressed, without further delay. The failure to reach a consensus, on Local Government polls, can cause a protracted political conflict that may undermine the overall efforts to restore economic stability.