Resistance to US intervention in Sri Lanka
The Indian Ocean is one of the most contested regions in the world today. China, the US and India, and also Japan, Saudi Arabia and other rich and powerful states, are struggling for influence over Sri Lanka, which is in the geographic heart of the Indian Ocean. The sea lanes of the Indian Ocean are considered to be the busiest in the world, with more than 80% of global seaborne oil trade estimated to be passing through them. Sri Lanka is a participant in the Maritime Belt and Silk Road Initiative, China's extensive network of ports and maritime facilities connecting the Pacific and Indian Oceans. In a controversial move in January 2017, the Sri Lankan government granted China a 99-year lease of Hambantota Port in exchange for US$1.1 billion in debt relief. China is also developing other projects in Sri Lanka, such as the $1.4 billion "Port City" in Colombo on land reclaimed from the Indian Ocean.
To curtail Chinese expansion across Asia, the US is turning strategically located Sri Lanka into a "military logistics hub" and the center of its "Free and Open Indo-Pacific Region Policy." Moreover, the US-Japan-Australia-India alliance is seeking to involve Sri Lanka in taking on the Chinese challenge.
Control of Sri Lanka has become more urgent for the US since the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in February that US occupation of the Indian Ocean Chagos Islands is illegal and the islands be handed back to Mauritius "as rapidly as possible." The Diego Garcia military base was established after Britain, which "owns" Chagos, forcibly removed its inhabitants between 1968 and 1973. Diego Garcia is one of America's most important and secretive military bases. It has been central in launching invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan and flying missions across Asia, including over the South China Sea. If the islands go back to Mauritius and the Chagossians who sued for their right to return are allowed back, then the US will require an alternative base. That could be Sri Lanka.
In January 2015, a US-backed Sri Lankan government replaced the former Mahinda Rajapaksa government that defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Soon thereafter, the new government and the United States co-sponsored a United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution in Geneva. Calling for accountability for alleged war crimes and missing persons in the final stage of the war against the LTTE, the UNHRC Resolution pressured the Sri Lankan government to make significant changes, including the dismissal and imprisonment of its intelligence officers and army personnel. These measures weakened Sri Lankan intelligence and security, paving the way to the Easter Sunday carnage by Islamist terrorists.
The Easter attacks are now being used to justify the acceleration of US intervention in Sri Lanka, which had already been increasing over the last few years. However, the three main bilateral agreements the US has deployed to assert its political, economic and military control over Sri Lanka - MCC, ACSA and SOFA - are facing massive local opposition.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a foreignaid agency established by the US Congress, is ready to sign a "compact" with Sri Lanka to facilitate private-sector investment and economic growth. Based on a "Constraints Analysis" completed by the Center for International Development at Harvard University, the compact identifies three constraints to growth in Sri Lanka: policy uncertainty, poor transportation and logistics, and inadequate access to land, especially "the difficulty of the private sector in accessing state land for commercial purposes."
The MCC Compact would undertake transportation and land management in return for a grant of $480 million to Sri Lanka. The Transport Project will include advanced traffic management, bus transportation modernization and a central ring-road network connecting the Central, Sabaragamuwa and Eastern Provinces to the Western Province. The Land Project would include a state land inventory, deeds registration improvement, land valuation improvement, land grants registration and deed conversion, and land policy and legal governance. Two new laws, the State Land Bank Bill and a Land (Special Provisions) Bill, are to be enacted in conjunction with the MCC Compact. The proposed Land Bank would bring all publicly owned land under a single entity, making it available to private investors including foreign parties. The proposed Land (Special Provisions) Bill would grant absolute title to state lands held by citizens holding land grants, with validity for seven years.
Proponents claim that the distribution of a million deeds granting outright ownership is a poverty-alleviation measure. However, critics such as MONLAR (Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform) see a setup for a massive land grab, displacement and pauperization.