Dr. S. Jaishankar is a diplomat-turned-politician who has served as India’s External Affairs Minister since 2019. He is a member of the BJP and a member of parliament representing Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha.
Dr. Jaishankar had earlier served as India’s foreign secretary between 2015-2018, after serving as ambassador to the United States, China, and the Czech Republic and as high commissioner to Singapore. He is well known for his assertive speeches and comments in the international media, such as the one when he addressed the UN, advocating for India’s permanent membership in the UNSC. Jaishankar is said to have played a major role in negotiating the India-US civil nuclear agreement. He has authored over three books, including ‘The India Way’ and ‘Why Bharat Matters’.
In 2019, he was conferred with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour in the country.
Thumbing their nose at India may pay some political and economic dividends in the short run, but Lanka, like many others who fell into their trap, will find out soon enough find out what Chinese “aid” really costs.
Sri Lanka is a peculiar country. Almost all sections of the island’s population are peculiar. The Sinhala Buddhists, who constitute the vast majority, are quite particular about their Buddhist identity. But the Buddhism they follow, is different from the original Buddhism followed about 4,000 years in Tibet and other Himalayan regions. The Sinhala Buddhists are heavily Christianised. They for example consider Buddha to be born of a virgin, like Jesus Christ. There are quite a few Sinhala Christians also. The Sinhala Buddhists are also staunch supporters of Ravana and make no bones about it. As far as the Sri Lankan Tamil community is concerned, though majority are Hindus, there are a very large number of Christians also amongst them. There are also a significant number of Tamil Muslims. Tamil Muslims of Sri Lanka consider themselves to be Muslims first and foremost and don’t share amicable relations with other Sri Lankan Tamils. During Easter Sunday on April 21, 2019, Muslims murdered Christians in churches across Sri Lanka. So all in all a very difficult country and it certainly requires a strongman like Amit Shah to crack the whip and discipline it.
I’m a Mauritian. We will gladly welcome any indian tourist wishing to dish Sri Lanka. That said, we favour only high-end tourists with high purchasing power. I don’t know if these are the indian tourists who contemplate vacationing in Sri Lanka. We are much more expensive
@Smirker
The CAA is a necessary step to protect religiously persecuted minorities of Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan. You clearly don’t care much about them. We do. No matter what foreign governments, foreign or domestic press and activists might say, India will and should protect the persecuted religious minorities of South Asia who live in islamic dictatorships.
Mauritius is just a hot spot for laundering Indian black money. If the Chinese came there and pushed you out, that would be good for the Indian economy.
The CAA was just a show off. How many Hindus have come for availing of this right ? None. Jobs for Indians have shrunk. There was an interview with Hindus who came from Pakistan long ago, even before the BJP, and they have not got citizenship. The govt. bureaucracy and corruption retards them. The Assamese do not want Hindus from Bangladesh, they agitated against it.
I said as far as back as 2016 that a Modi Shah government is a blessing for Pakistan, they are going to inflict pain on India that no amount of effort by Pakistan can do.
Modi ‘s threatened to isolate Pakistan following Pulwama, yet the opposite has happened and India looks like the one isolated, certainly within its neighbourhood.
As for Shah, he single handedly invited China to take a chunk of Indian territory following his remarks on Aksai Chin, CAA-NRC have been a disaster, revocation of article 370 has once again put the spotlight on Kashnir in the international media even though india managed to attract some observers from like minded right wing governments from the EU – hardly something to show off about!
Hasty lockdown, farmers protests, sales tax, rampant unemployment and inflation, tanking GDP, communal unrest and riots, falling currency, rising fuel prices if these are ‘Ache din’ then i’d hate to see what the bad times will be like…
Its impossible SL & its current Prez Rajapakse forget how India created LTTE to terrorize it for 30yrs until China helped to eliminate, and how India RAW-CIA regime changed Rajapakse to halt China’s BRI port.
Nepal had seen its entire Royal family massacre (RAWS Top10 mission), thrice blockade as close as 2018 by Modi to blackmail it into amending Constitution, so that 4millions illegal India migrants have greater say in Nepal Parliament.
Maldives was too regime changed by RAWS-CIA to remove China friendly Prez, while installing India puppet to halt China’s BRI, and rushed to sign defense pact for USM-India to install military base.
Abolished of art370 to illegal annex J& K Ladakh while boasting to invade China’s Arsai Chin by Amit Shah in Parliament winning applause, has drawn Ladakh costly standoff. The disengagement is only to avoid miscalculated war, but the standoff will be perpetual until India withdraw from J&K Ladakh and South Tibet.
India invaded and occupied every neighbors since 1947 speak voluminous of its threat to every Asians. J&K Ladakh, Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, NEastern 7 states are still awaiting liberation.
If anybody had to be rebuked by by the RSS. it had to be Amit Shah. After alienating Bangladesh with his termites remark, let us not forget his references to Aksai Chin in the parliament which contributed, at least in part, to China’s belligerent position on our borders. He is the serial offender.
Greatly reduced leverage over Sri Lanka also means that India can no longer intervene effectively to secure justice and dignity for the island’s Tamil minority. See how ugly and uncaring a majoritarian state looks when viewed from the outside. Sri Lanka will not be the only sovereign state to tell the UN system, These are out internal matters. You have no idea of the threats we have faced to our territorial integrity.
If Sri Lankans wish to trade and do business more with China, we should not mind it and reduce our linkages with them. In any case, once new deep sea port in Kerala comes up, our reliance on Colombo port for transshipment will go down. As regards Indian tourists, they can go anywhere. But Sri Lanka must be told of our red lines clearly and made it to adhere to them.
All neighbouring countries will be forced to have China-friendly governments due to Amit Shah.
Indians are suffering due to Amit Shah. Indians are arbitrarily arrested, subjected to riots and pogroms. Shah himself had a fake encounter case against him. He is now minister in charge of law-and-order !
Shah’s comment shows the worst kind of wishful imperial ambitions. Why would neighbouring countries want a BJP government when they can see Indians are suffering due to it ? They will need China as a bulwark against India.
As for human rights, Sri Lanka has a poor record, and so does China. India has joined their ranks due to CAA-NRC, ethno-nationalism, pogroms and hate speeches, all promoted by the Shah-Modi duo. It will not be long before there are demands for sanctions against India. Sri Lanka can become pretentious and retort about India’s human rights abuses.
Smirker,
India has a far better record than Sri Lanka on minority rights. The Sri Lankan airforce bombed Tamil cities, the Sri Lankan navy shelled Tamil coastal villages while the Sri Lankan army went berserk killing Tamil civilians. Not one offender is in prison.
Prior to that the Sri Lankan army killed Sinhalese youth in 1971 and 1989.
Sri Lanka is also currently a complete basket case utterly dependent on Chinese largesse. The currency continues to slide.
You obviously don’t know what you are talking about.
The article doesn’t explain why the Sri Lankans have decided to rescind on their agreements and gone back to China. it would be great if the author can do this
Indian transshipment cargo should be processed at Indian ports only.
Along with a deep water port on the southern tip, we urgently need to create infrastructure at both Lakshadweep and the A&N islands too.