The real winner of the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) voting on Sri Lanka’s human right violation is China. The incident has set a platform for the Chinese to occupy a bigger space in South Asia. China has voted against the resolution while India was compelled to support it because of the pressure from DMK. At the UNHRC, politicians from Tamil Nadu have won but, India has lost. In the pre- independence period, there were several such incidents where the foolish local kings acted against the country and thus leading to the gains of the colonial powers.
China was awaiting an opportunity to consolidate its foot hold in the Indian Ocean. This time the dividend is quite high and China is not hiding its joy of having won a strategic opportunity to annoy India. The Chinese Defence Minister Mr Liang Guanglie after the UNHRC voting, stated that “China will continue to support Sri Lanka’s efforts in safeguarding state independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The statement is aggressive as it declares that it is China’s responsibility to protect the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka at a time when there is no such security threat for teh island country. Of course, the statement shows China’s intent to unnecessarily involve in the affairs of the island nation.
China’s continuing thrust to its engagement in Sri Lanka is a significant follow up of its previous engagement. The operation against the tigers was sponsored by the Chinese military. Sri Lanka government has returned the gestrure by extending port services to the Chinese navy.
The Sri Lanka – China engagement is not just a strategic loss for India, rather it is a security threat. China’s increasing border military exercises are aimed at India, and now it is steadily establishing as the military power of the Indian Ocean. The dragon is coming out of the East China Sea to the distant Indian Ocean where it is an alien.
