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Wednesday, 31 December 2014 01:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his foreign policy initiatives, President Rajapaksa, in a 30-minute interview to ‘Thanthi TV’ telecast on Monday, said: “The Indian PM has opened up his foreign policy to enable our two countries to have stronger ties. That is what enabled me to take the decision to release the (five) Indian fishermen who were sentenced to death (for smuggling narcotics).”
To a question on the nature of his relationship with Prime Minister Modi, the President replied: “We have spoken many times. I think we have very similar visions for our countries, which is what has made it possible for us to further strengthen our relations. I believe our relations will continue to grow in a number of areas.”
President Rajapaksa also said that India was aware of Chinese warships being permitted to dock in Sri Lankan ports.
“Whenever they (Chinese warships) come this side they always inform the Indian High Commissioner in Colombo. They inform them that they are going towards the Middle East and that they are going to be here. Close to the Chinese President’s visit, we had seven warships surrounding the country,” he said.
On reports that India expressed displeasure over the issue, the President said Indian authorities had only conveyed the request that they wanted to know about the movement. “I told the authorities that any time, if any country wants to come for water, or fuel, it is open to anybody,” he said. This was not the first time a warship has come to Sri Lanka, he added.
On the fishermen issue, the President denied allegations of attacks on Tamil Nadu fishermen. “We have nothing to do with any attacks. We won’t do it. We have given clear instructions that we must not attack anybody. That won’t happen. These are all propped up stories,” he said, adding that the fishermen problem was a humanitarian problem.
“This is how I saw it from the day I became the Minister of Fisheries in the 1990s. Fish don’t know borders. They just go up and down.”
President Rajapaksa denied allegations that though there was an elected government in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province in Sri Lanka, it was not given any powers and that a parallel administration was being run by the Governor.
“They (elected Tamil National Alliance government) have the freedom to do anything they want. Unfortunately, they won’t do it. They don’t want to do it. They won’t say they are incapable of delivering what the people want. But they just put the blame on us and the Governor,” he alleged. “If he (Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran) wants he can do it. We send money to them. It is up to them to decide,” President Rajapaksa added.
To a question on whether he was anti-Tamil, the President said: “How can I be anti-Tamil? You better ask the Tamil MPs and ministers in my Cabinet. I can’t go against the Tamils. My niece is married to a Tamil from Jaffna. Another niece is married to a Muslim from Kandy. We have relations,” he said. “Inter-marriages among Tamils, Muslim and Sinhalese happen. I always treat everybody alike. I am the President of this country. I can’t be taking sides, thinking about religion, caste and race. The opposition is always trying to take votes from us and keep people away from us and throw mud at us,” he said.
Responding to the current political situation and upcoming presidential polls, the President said there was no united opposition against him. “United opposition? Who are these people? UNP is the main party. The main party couldn’t find a candidate. The leader of the opposition did not want to contest. UNP is the biggest opposition party. Others are just individuals,” he said.
