We referred earlier to the many global top-ranking personalities who visited Sri Lanka within a short time. It included Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, a Deputy Prime Minister of China, US Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, a Commonwealth Office of Scotland Secretary General, a senior Japanese Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, and the Army supremo of Pakistan. 

Last week Colombo was all agog about the mysterious visit of a senior American official to Colombo. Two Globemasters [the largest aeroplanes in use] and 20 officials landed in Katunayake, held discussions here, and left immediately – all in a matter of less than 24 hours. 

Rumour mills were working overtime and there was speculation that the mysterious visitor for whom the Colombo-Katunayake highway was closed and a cavalcade of 12 cars was driven at high speed was Antony Blinken – the Secretary of State of the US and the third in succession to the American presidency after Biden and Kamala Harris. 

There was also talk that he had come to sign an agreement with RW about Trincomalee. All this was an exaggeration. The visitor was Jedidiah Royal, a senior official of the US Defence Department who was in charge of Indo-Pacific Security Affairs – senior enough, but not up to the rank of Blinken.

With the Ukrainian war escalating and a major confrontation with Russia on the cards, the US has so far been disappointed at the lukewarm response to their initiatives from India and other South Asian countries. 

In the UN, Western resolutions are not getting the support of the Third World countries. In Europe, German leader Scholl is getting flak for sending ‘leopard’ tanks into Ukraine. Putin capitalised on this by broadcasting to the Russian people that German tanks were once again operational since the Nazis under Hitler sent them to subjugate the Soviet Union during the Second World War. 

We are in a difficult position just now because we need US support with the IMF for an early settlement of our debt issue. The IMF is virtually a proxy for the US.

DEBT

There is still no firm date for the IMF to come to our rescue on the debt front. The planned schedules for board approval are already outdated and we are still waiting on the IMF to accept the Chinese letter of support to Sri Lanka as sufficient to move forward. The authoritative Hindustan Times of India says that IMF approval for the ‘bailout’ is still a long way off. 

China has steadfastly refused to discuss a ‘haircut’ of the funds due to it. Instead, it has suggested a two-year moratorium on interest and principal repayments. Its position is that this matter must be resolved with the relevant banks, principally the Exim Bank, and not bilaterally between states.

Speaking of haircuts, the statement of left-leaning economists on the debt issue has not caught on in the hard world of international business. These academics argued that since the ISOs carried unacceptable conditions, such as very high interest rates which were unfair by the borrowers, a significant ‘cut’ in the sum to be repaid was ethically in order. In our case the IPO investors have banded together to litigate if necessary to regain the funds they mobilised for our ISOs.

ADANI

The Adani contretemps is rocking the Indian capital market.

Says The Economist: “Adani’s seven airports handle 23% of India’s passenger traffic; its dozen ports receive or dispatch around 30% of India’s international freight; its recently acquired cement business churns out 14-20% of India’s total; its warehouses hold 30% of India’s grain; it is the country’s biggest private generator of electricity from fossil fuel plants. Any scaling back of its investments could definitely be felt.”

Modi’s strategy of backing ‘National Champions,’ which has brought rapid growth to the Indian economy, has Adani as its poster boy. Adani has the capacity to get things done. The best example is the development of the new Mumbai airport in the eastern part of the city which had been delayed due to bureaucratic interference since 1997. Adani took over in 2021 and “construction is expected to be finished next year and the airport to be operational by 2025. That is a meteoric pace, by any standard.”

If the original proposal for the development of our East Terminal together with Adani Group had been accepted, we would have been well on our way to creating the best deepwater port in South Asia. Instead we are now squandering all our chances buying cranes [just imagine the commissions], etc., with money we can ill afford and not being sure when the East Terminal will become fully operational.

All those decision-makers – ministers, officials, trade unionists, etc. – who have done untold damage to our economy should be brought before a tribunal at a future date and be made to pay for these economic crimes.

MUSHARRAF

Two weeks ago Pervez Musharraf – Army General and President of Pakistan from 1999 to 2018 – died in Dubai at the age of 79. Of all the Pakistani leaders, Musharraf was the closest to Sri Lanka, with many friends among our Army top brass. 

He did not come from the usual Panjabi leadership of the Pakistani Army, which really ran the country with nominal civilian leaders in front. Musharraf was born in present India and had a less vengeful approach to relationships with his giant neighbour. He was a swashbuckling soldier who won many awards for gallantry and was nicknamed ‘Cowboy’ by his military colleagues, among whom he was very popular. 

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif picked him to be the Army Chief, thinking that as a non-Panjabi he could be trusted not to upset the applecart. But with Sharif’s corruption getting out of hand, Musharraf was chosen by his military colleagues to stage a coup.

He was in Sri Lanka with his military friends when Sharif decided to intervene. Musharraf returned from Colombo but his plane was not allowed to land. With fuel short, the Army immediately took over and he landed to a hero’s welcome. The path was clear for him to take over. After 9/11 he became an indispensable ally of President Bush, who invaded Afghanistan to punish the Al-Qaeda who were alleged to be the masterminds of the spectacular attack.

When the LTTE launched its attack on Jaffna with the use of Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers (MBRLs), our Army was in a state of shock. At this juncture Musharraf even denuded his northern defences to supply our military with MBRLs. Our High Commissioner in Rawalpindi was Gen. Weerasooria, who was a batchmate of Musharraf. Weerasooria treasures a photograph of Musharraf and himself, dressed as Kandyan dancers for an Army concert when they were subalterns in Murie Training Camp.

No payment was asked for the MBRLs and their appearance in the Jaffna theatre changed the balance and saved Jaffna. This country should treasure the memory of the ‘Cowboy’ who rode to our rescue in the darkest days of the battle against the LTTE.

QUOTABLE QUOTE

“They say Gujaratis can live anywhere, but cannot live without their own food. But let me tell you, in my experience, I think a Gujarati can live without his ‘dhokla’ or ‘thepla’. But one thing he cannot live without is success” – Gautam Adani