Lanka: India’s spokesman

If the Rajapaksa ship of state tilted heavily towards the Chinese horizon till it sunk in the Red Sea, then it is to the credit of the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government that they have been able to raise the hulk from fathomless depths and to keep it on even keel and steer it safely through the IndoSino canal to port.

This week saw Lanka’s diplomacy at its best. Ranil Wickremesinghe after having welcomed the Indian Prime Minister and afforded him the best of all possible welcomes and seen him off, swiftly flew to be the guest at the court of China’s President Xi Jinping just when he was inaugurating China’s ambitious project to make the world rediscover the ancient silk route from China to Europe.

Where once the previous Lankan government had placed all its betting chips on the Chinese red and ignored the rivaling Indian black, the present regime has followed counsel and emerged to be quite adroit in walking the tight rope of have negotiated its way out. Here especially the Kashmir issue getting dragged into it, makes it difficult for India to be flexible,"

The Lankan Prime Minister Wickremesinghe himself said this week that India and China are

"talking", even though the Modi government had boycotted the Belt and Road Forum. "Don’t think that New Delhi is not talking to China. Besides it’s a bilateral issue for them to sort out."

The Sirisena- Wickremesinghe government had made Lanka the most wanted belle of the ball. On the southern flank she has promised the capital and the ancient port of Hambantota to the wily Chinaman. On the northern front she has promised her oil tanks to the sweet talking Indian. But she has still not surrendered her heart to either but has kept them dangling like two puppets on her string.

It certainly takes great skill to stay neutral between two formidable foes. And some gumption to defend the mongoose in the serpent’s nest.