Gotabaya finds himself at centre of bipolar geopolitics

[TamilNet, Sunday, 19 January 2020, 23:16 GMT]
"Being geographically super positioned in a strategic location, #LKA will always face many political challenges. However, I strongly believe that we need to be economically strong, in order to gain the political independence needed," SL President Gotabaya Rajapaksa tweeted a day after his meeting with India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. The Indian NSA called on him on Saturday after the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister earlier this week.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa seems to be under heavy pressure to choose sides, between the "win-win" China which wants him to pronounce the relationship as "Strategic Partner" of China and the "zero-sum" USA that wants Colombo to fall in line with Narendra Modi's India.

Mr Rajapaksa is seeking a multi-polar world order to enable the SL State to sustain its economy to consolidate the unitary state of genocidal Sri Lanka,

However, strategically located islands, archipelagic states as well as the small littoral states bordering India and China are under heavy pressure to commit to the "rules-based international order" of the USA and the "deals-based" order of China.

The Maldives seems to have decided to join the US-India bandwagon.

In the meantime, US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Alice G Wells, who stopped over in Colombo this week handed over a letter from US President Donald Trump to SL President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. The content of the message has not been revealed to media.

Chronology: