India’s neighboring island country Sri Lanka is facing serious economic crisis these days. There is a shortage of essential commodities and even food and drink. The country’s economy is already weak due to lack of imports and lack of foreign exchange. Meanwhile, the Defense Ministry has to give its explanation on the increasing pressure on the government to secretly enter into two defense agreements with India. The opposition leaders of Sri Lanka had lodged strong objections to this. He said it was a “threat” to the security and sovereignty of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan Defense Ministry spokesman Col Nalin Herat told the English newspaper ‘The Hindu’ that both the agreements were signed on March 16 in which the secretary of the Sri Lankan Defense Ministry and officials of the Indian High Commission in Colombo were present. According to ‘The Hindu’, the two countries had not made any official announcement regarding these agreements. “The Maritime Security Agreement recently signed with the Government of India does not endanger or hinder the national security of Sri Lanka,” the ministry said.
The ministry has said that ‘floating docks and Dornier reconnaissance aircraft will be available from the Government of India at no cost’. Sri Lanka’s main opposition party SJB MP Herin Fernando alleged that Sri Lanka had ‘sold its airspace.’
Fernando told Parliament that, “Having these agreements, Sri Lanka runs the risk of engaging in a territorial war, as it will give India the opportunity to control Sri Lanka’s waters and airspace. China, on the other hand, is controlling the Hambantota port.”
Another opposition party, the JVP, has accused the Sri Lankan government of signing these defense agreements with India in return for $1 billion in aid. In fact, since Sri Lanka’s economy has come into crisis, since then India has helped it with $ 2.4 billion. In such a situation, the opposition alleges that in exchange for help from India, the Sri Lankan government is taking a threat to the security and sovereignty of the country.