India increased its purchases of crude oil from Russia while giving a new meaning to the old treaty deal with Russia (then the Soviet Union) in local currencies. India is trying to sustain the monopoly on fuel trading in South Asia and beyond. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, breaks its ties and spits in the face of a genuine friend who supports her in times of trouble. Who is manipulating whom?
Editorial
We as a country would be exceptionally lucky if all Sri Lankan Courts could be so effective and efficient in dealing with other illegal activities in Sri Lanka as they did in detaining Russian aircraft recently. The man who claims to be the richest man in Sri Lanka is a swindler who is evading a large amount of taxes due to the government. The irony is, that they are the ones who come up with solutions to the economic crisis facing Sri Lanka today. But none of these commercial courts or so-called law firms will come forward to enforce the law against such thieves. But the courts in Sri Lanka, as well as a so-called law firm, are busy trying to bring justice to an Irish company against Russia on Sri Lankan land. The way lawyers act in many jurisdictions shows that what matters to many of them is money, not ethical principles and moral values that need to be profoundly established in the administration of justice.
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| Rissian President Putin meeting with then the President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena. |
A local law firm representing an Irish company initiated the legal action within hours of the Russian plane taking off for Sri Lanka. It chooses economically battered Sri Lanka as the jurisdiction and prevents the Russian plane from flying back to Russia. The Russian plane was scheduled to return to Russia within two hours of its arrival in Sri Lanka. All this legal procedure has taken place in that short period of time.
This incident, however, seriously calls into question the principles that a friendly country should protect in foreign policy. But this is not how Sri Lanka has behaved in the past. A known example is the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war. There was a clear policy that was explained and implemented from the Sri Lankan side. In line with that policy, Sri Lanka supported Pakistan and allowed the Pakistani military to use Sri Lankan airspace and airports for refuelling. Despite strong objections from India, Sri Lanka has not changed its stance. But those direct and clear policies were later severely eroded by internal political infighting and opportunist conspiracies.
What we have to say is that our reliable friend should not be ridiculed and despised in order to achieve the aims of the buccaneers. Russia is a genuine partner which sincerely supported many of the country's troubled times since independence. It is a travesty of fate that Sri Lanka is damaging this priceless friendship while India is strengthening its Russian friendship day by day. That is why the political leadership must own the prophetic vision to intervene to resolve such diplomatic disputes. At the same time, policymakers and their enforcers must have a clear policy when dealing with a foreign country. So-called law firms should not be allowed to belittle the profits of those policy loopholes.
India was heavily influenced by various Western countries to stop buying crude oil from Russia. Instead, India increased its purchases of crude oil from Russia. India gave a new meaning to the old treaty deal with Russia (then the Soviet Union) in local currencies. India is trying to sustain the monopoly on fuel trading in South Asia and beyond. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, breaks its ties and spits in the face of a genuine friend who supports her in times of trouble. This is the nature of the destruction to the state when those who betray anything for money manipulate the country's major institutions at will. Should we not be ashamed?
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