Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has reached Colombo on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka.
During this tour, Imran Khan is to meet Sri Lankan President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Apart from this, he will also attend a conference of investors.
This visit of Imran Khan came into the limelight only when Sri Lanka canceled Imran Khan's address to Parliament.
The reason for canceling the address is also being told to India. It is being said that Imran Khan could have raised the issue of Kashmir in the Parliament of Sri Lanka and this would have been enough to annoy Delhi. However, Sri Lanka says that this has been done due to Covid-19.
One reason for the cancellation of Imran Khan's speech is also being told that he could have spoken in the Parliament of Sri Lanka about the rights of the Muslims there.
Addressing in the Parliament of another country is considered a matter of honor. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Parliament of Sri Lanka in March 2015.
The Sri Lankan government was to give the same honor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, which shows a glimpse of the relationship between the two countries.
The current tour is also in discussion because Sri Lanka is strategically important for India and China. At the same time, the friendship between China and Pakistan remains a challenge for India.
But, before knowing the equations made by foreign visits, let us see how the relationship between Sri Lanka and Pakistan is.
Very old and deep relationship
Relations between the two countries can be seen at the level of trade, commerce, defense, and cultural partnership.
Pakistan is the second-largest trading partner of Sri Lanka in the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) region. Sri Lanka is the first country to have a free trade agreement with Pakistan.
This agreement was signed in the year 2005 after which there has been a further increase in trade between the two countries.
According to the Sri Lankan consulate in Pakistan, trade between the two countries was $ 15.8 million in 2005, which increased to $ 5.8 billion in 2018. However, when it comes to the balance of trade, it has always been in Pakistan's favor. Pakistan's exports have been higher than Sri Lanka.
Items exported from Sri Lanka to Pakistan include dry coconut, MDF board, betel nut, bulk tea, textiles, industrial and surgical gloves, crepe and sheet rubber, cans, boxes, bags, coconut oil, woven cloth, and animal feed.
Especially betel nuts have been in the news recently. The export of betel nut from India to Pakistan has been interrupted due to the conflict with India. The supply of betel nut in Pakistan is now from Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka also wants to increase tea exports to Pakistan but most of Kenya occupies the tea market of Pakistan.
According to a report by the Consulate General of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka had been the largest supplier of tea in Pakistan until 1984 but it gradually decreased. The kind of tea used in Pakistan, China produces only 10 percent of that type of tea.
Items exported from Pakistan to Sri Lanka include Portland Cement, Medicines, Potatoes, Woven Fabrics, Pipes and Tubes, Bed Table Kitchen Toilet Linen, Rice, Denim Fabric, Fish etc.
Bilateral investment between the two countries is at a very moderate level. Currently, Pakistani investors in Sri Lanka are working on some projects in the fields of Chemical, Rubber, Plastic, Textile manufacturing, Leather Products, Food and Beverages, etc.
Close ties with military
Talking about the military relations of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, they became stronger during the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Then Pakistan provided arms to Sri Lanka to compete with LTTE.
In 1971, India banned the use of its airspace during the conflict in East Pakistan (present Bangladesh) and West Pakistan. When Sri Lanka provided airspace to West Pakistan.
Pakistan has also been the main supplier of small arms to Sri Lanka. Also, the armies of the two countries have been conducting joint exercises.
However, after the extremist attack on a Sri Lankan bus during a test match in Lahore in March 2009, some players refused to play in Pakistan. The cricket board left the decision to go to Pakistan.
India-Pakistan role
Nirupama Subramaniam, national editor and international affairs expert of the English newspaper Indian Express in Mumbai, says that Pakistan and Sri Lanka have a very deep relationship.
She says, "Pakistan and Sri Lanka have had a relationship ever since Sri Lanka became independent. There are good relationships at all levels in business, military, defense, and culture. The military relationship is even stronger. Just as there are relations between India and Sri Lanka, so can say of Sri Lanka and Pakistan. "
“Pakistan also helped Sri Lanka with arms against LTTE. Like India, the army of Sri Lanka is trained in Pakistan. "
However, Nirupama Subramaniam says that it is different from India that Pakistan does not have as much role in infrastructure development in Sri Lanka as India tries. China and India live face to face in this matter.
If we talk about the relationship between the people of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, then Nirupama Subramaniam says that the people of Sri Lanka are openly welcomed in Pakistan. Sri Lankan people say that they get a lot of love and respect.
Means for India
The visit of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to Sri Lanka is being seen not only in the context of India-Pakistan but also in the context of India-Pakistan-China.
India and China have been in a volatile situation regarding relations with Sri Lanka. Sometimes India and sometimes the interference of China comes to the fore.
Meanwhile, the proximity of China to Pakistan is not hidden from anyone. In such a situation, what a new challenge can Emraan Khan visit for India.
Professor Sanjay Bhardwaj of the Center for South Asia Studies at JNU says, "Relations are being redefined throughout Asia, whether in the Islamic world or the South-Eastern countries." China is building its support base with other countries for economic and strategic reasons. If we look at Sri Lanka and Pakistan in the context of India, then they are small countries and Pakistan is not such a challenge in Sri Lanka. ”
"But, in Sri Lanka, the Rajapaksa brothers are considered close to China. Before the Sri Lankan elections, India's support was somewhere to former President Maithripal Sirisena. Recently, the Rajapaksa government canceled the East Container Terminal agreement with India after opposition from trade unions. "
Professor Bhardwaj says that Pakistan is trying to use the anti-India component in Sri Lanka in its favor. China is also a factor in this. China is bringing all those countries which have been close to America. At the same time, India has also tried to raise its concerns so that it remains entangled in solving problems with neighboring countries and does not become aggressive against China.
However, the Sri Lankan government also needs India and there have been positive signs about it. Mahinda Rajapaksa has come to India and the Indian Foreign Minister Rajapaksa reached there the next day to form the government.
He says that when it comes to business and military relations, he is at a normal level. Pakistan's exports are more in trade. In such a situation, business does not appear to be a big issue in this journey.
Silence on some matters
But despite the good relations between Sri Lanka and Pakistan, there are some issues that both try to ignore.
Sanjay Bhardwaj says that the Muslim community has been the target after the bombing of the church in Sri Lanka and there have been riots in the country. Rajapaksa has been supportive of the Sinhala Buddhist nationalist organization Bodu Bal Sena, while the minority Muslim community has been its target. Therefore, other minority communities including Muslims do not feel comfortable in the Rajapaksa government.
In such a situation, the issue of Islam and Muslims comes up again and again. Pakistan and Sri Lanka do not come forward in open support or protest on this issue. Pakistani PMs never state the situation of Muslims in Sri Lanka. However, Pakistan cannot even ignore it completely because it wants to be seen as the leader of the Muslim world and there is no debt from Sri Lanka like China. In such a situation, it is difficult to get any concrete results from the tour.
At the same time, Nirupama Subramaniam believes that this visit of Imran Khan is an attempt to improve foreign relations. Ever since he became Prime Minister, he has made very few visits to other countries. Covid also became a major hurdle in the middle.
According to him, Sri Lanka knows how to balance relations with India and Pakistan. At the same time, India does not consider Pakistan as a competitor in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it does not matter to India that the Prime Minister of Pakistan is going on a visit to Sri Lanka because the Prime Minister keeps visiting other countries.
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