US military base in Sri Lanka || The real reason for US's interest in Sri Lanka and its impact on India

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe recently announced that the country is negotiating a fresh military cooperation deal with the United States of America. A lot questions arise because of this like why is this happening, what are Sri Lankan people's opinion on this, what is India's stand on this, what China has to say about this deal, etc. etc. In this article, we are going to answer all such questions.

Why is US interested in Sri Lanka?

We all know that China and US are arch rivals. This is nothing new.  For China, Sri Lanka has a lot of strategic importance. China invests a lot of money in Sri Lanka so that it can gain Sri Lanka's support in the South China Sea dispute. Also, China is interested in setting up military bases in countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand to encircle India. This is what China calls 'String of Pearls'.

Map of China's String of Pearls, dated to 2012. Some of the labels are incorrect; #13 on the map is actually #15 in the text; #14 on the map is #13 in the text; #15 on the map is #14 in the text. (in Spanish) - By EdgarFabiano - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19198649

Other than that, Sri Lanka lies on the Maritime Silk Road that connects China, Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, Arabian peninsula, Somalia and all the way to Egypt and finally Europe. This route helps China in its trade. And talking about trade, China also wants Sri lanka's support in its even bigger project - The Belt Road Initiative. This makes Sri Lanka a very important strategic alliance for China.

Image Source - researchgate.net

So now we know that Sri Lanka is friends with  China. And we also know that China is one of the biggest enemies of USA. So in order to counteract China, USA is interested in friendship with Sri Lanka.

Also, US's involvement in Sri lanka is not new. US has helped Sri Lanka with training the military personnel and it has also invested a lot of money in the country. A military base is an attempt to strengthen the ties even more.

What does the Sri Lankan PM say?

Image Credit - Prime Minister's Office, Sri Lanka

Before we talk about what the Sri Lankan Prime Minister has to say, first you need to understand what is SOFA. In this context, SOFA stands for Status Of Forces Agreement. This is basically when a host country allows some other foreign country to establish military bases in it's country. Since United States is the largest military in the world and its military has the largest foreign presence, US has the most SOFAs. Other countries like UK, Germany, Russia, etc also have SOFAs in their host countries.

Now, the Sri Lankan PM Ranil Wickremesinghe says that the government was discussing a replacement for the 1995 SOFA arrangement that would allow the US military easier access to the country. But he denies when his opponents say that the new SOFA will lead to a permanent settlement of US military in Sri Lanka.

What does the Sri Lankan President say?

Image Credit - Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka

President Maithripala Sirisena is against this new SOFA. He believes that the Wickremsinghe government is pro-West and he would not let the government make any deal giving US forces freer access to Sri Lanka.

"I will not allow the SOFA that seeks to betray the nation. Some foreign forces want to make Sri Lanka one of their bases. I will not allow them to come into the country and challenge our sovereignty." 

What do the Sri Lankan people have to say?

Majority of the common people, religious leaders, scholars and intellectuals are against the government on this issue and on many occasions, they have clarified about the consequences that the nation would face if certain agreements with the United States are signed. Protests against USA can be seen all around the country. Last month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cancelled the Lanka trip because of these protests over the proposed military pact. 

How does it impact India? Should we even care?

In my opinion, a US military base in Sri Lanka is beneficial to us. China has never been a friend of ours and at present, USA is the only country that can actually put some pressure on China. US's military base in a country like Sri Lanka, where a port is has been occupied by China on a 99 year lease is a very bold step. This will help reducing China's influence in the Indian Ocean. On the eastern and northern border, we have China itself and on the western border, we have Pakistan. Both of these countries are good friends with each other. We are surrounded by not so friendly countries from 3 sides and the last thing that India will want is an enemy even on the southern border. 

India's Official stand on the issue

The Indian establishment's stand is that it would respect any decision made by the Sri Lankan government. Evem if the US military base is established or not, Indian government will stay neutral. Sri Lankan Prime Minister has also announced that his country would not sign any pact that violated its sovereignty. 

Conclusion

Elections are approaching in Sri Lanka and the present PM is pro-West and his arch rival, the present President of Sri Lanka, who will also fight in the elections, is pro-China. Another important thing to note is that the majority of people are against US's involvement in Sri Lanka. So whatever that will happen depends on the upcoming elections. India's stand at present is very neutral but who knows what will happen in future. We can only analyse and wait..

MUST WATCH : RSTV's analysis on the matter

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Hi, I am Pranjay Varshney. I am pursuing my B.Sc. (Hons) in Electronic Science from University of Delhi. My dream is to join the Indian Army as an officer and I am very passionate about it. I like to write articles about Indian Armed Forces and various political and economic affairs. I spend my free time doing gymnastics, listening to music or watching movies.