The Strategic Significance of the Island State of Sri Lanka
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THE STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ISLAND STATE OF SRI LANKA by RAMESH SOMASUNDERAM B.A. (DEAKIN) Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS DEAKIN UNIVERSITY MARCH, 2003 DEAKIN UNIVERSITY CANDIDATE DECLARATION I certify that the thesis entitled: The Strategic Importance of the Island State of Sri Lanka submitted for the degree of: Master of Arts is the result of my own work and that where reference is made to the work of others, due acknowledgement is given. I also certify that any material in the thesis which has been accepted for a degree or diploma by any other university or institution is identified in the text. Full Name …………………………………………………………………............... (Please Print) Signed ….…………………………………………………………………............... Date …….…………………………………………………………………............... Acknowledgements I wish to place on record my thanks to my principal supervisor, Dr Chris Waters, for his assistance and guidance. I would also like to thank Linda Black for her help in the typing of my thesis. CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT 1 CHAPTER 1 - Introduction: Key Issues 3 - Summary of the Chapters 19 - End Notes 21 CHAPER 2 - The Pybus Mission: Events Leading to the Conquest of the 24 Whole Island State in March 1815 - Summary 59 - End Notes 61 CHAPTER 3 - The Defence Agreement between Britain and Sri Lanka 68 (Ceylon as it was then called) in 1947: Its Significance as a Part of the Western Strategy after World War II to contain the Soviet Union and the Spread of Communism on a Global Basis - Summary 112 - End Notes 115 CHAPTER 4 - The Rajiv Gandhi / Jaywardene Agreement 1986: An 124 attempt to Project Indian Power and an Aspect of the Cold War Confrontation within the Indian Ocean Region - Summary 159 - End Notes 161 CHAPTER 5 - Conclusions 169 - End Notes 181 APPENDICES 185 BIBLIOGRAPHY 193 APPENDICES Page APPENDIX 1 - Articles of the Treaty Proposed to the Nayak King by the British 184 in 1762: Relevant Extracts from Text * (Military Sundries, Vol.XVII, Tamil Nadu Archives) APPENDIX 2 - King of Kandy to Bellecombe, Governor of Pondichery, 185 25 June 1777: Relevant Extracts from Text * (Government Archives, Colombo, Sri Lanka - English Translation from the Tamil Original) APPENDIX 3 - From Rajadirajasingha to the French at Pondichery, 186 3 July 1791: Relevant Extracts from Text * (Government Archives, Colombo, Sri Lanka - English Translation from the Tamil Original) APPENDIX 4 - Proclamation at the “Convention” of 1815: Relevant Extracts 187 from Text * (Government Archives, Colombo, Sri Lanka) APPENDIX 5 - United Kingdom - Ceylon Defence Agreement: Relevant 188 Extracts from Text * (Government Archives, Colombo, Sri Lanka) APPENDIX 6 - Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement: To establish peace and normalcy 190 in Sri Lanka: Relevant Extracts from Text * (Government Archives, Colombo, Sri Lanka) APPENDIX 7 - Velupillai Prabhakaran - Speech as Leader of the Separatist 191 Tamil Rebel Movement on the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement of 1987: Relevant Extracts from Text * (Liberation Tigers Headquarters, London, English Translation from the Tamil Original) MAPS Page 1 The Anglo/French Naval Conflicts in the Mid-Eighteenth 25 Century and Early Nineteenth Century - Indian Ocean (Ref: History Today, 1970) 2 Map of the British Empire in 1815 71 (Ref: Oxford History of British Empire, Vol III) 3 Map of the British Empire in 1920 72 (Ref: Martin Gilbert, Atlas of the British Empire, Dent, 1993) 4 Map of South Asia in mid 1942 77 (Ref: Time - Atlas) 5 Map of Trincomalee Harbour 78 (Ref: Survey General - Sri Lanka) 6 Map of the US Military Base Requirements following World 81 War II (Ref: Leffler, Melvyn P. and Painter, David S. (editors), Origins of the Cold War, Routledge, London, 1994) 7 Map of the Principal British Bases in 1947 82 8 Map of the Key United States Bases Abroad 83 (Ref: Time Magazine, 1993) 9 Map of the Problem of the Middle East 88 (Ref: M.S.N. Harrison, World Conflict in the Twentieth Century) 10 Map of the US Naval Base in Diego Garcia in relation to 134 Sri Lanka (Ref: Survey General’s Department - Sri Lanka) 11 Map of Maldives, India and Sri Lanka 157 (Ref: Survey General - Sri Lanka) 12 Map of the Indian Naval Deployment in the Indian Ocean 158 (Ref: Indian Ocean Review, Curtin University) ABSTRACT The study is focused on an analysis of the major diplomatic documents from the mid eighteenth century to the present as regards Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was known till 1972. The objectives of the study are to identify the issues underlying these diplomatic documents. These include the political and strategic factors and other subsidiary issues like trade and commerce relevant at the time these treaties, agreements, and proposed treaties were formulated. It is also a geopolitical study as it relates to Sri Lanka’s geographical position in the Indian Ocean, and her possession of the Trincomalee Harbour on its east coast, which is one of the great natural harbours of the world. Over the centuries this harbour has had significant strategic value for naval deployments. The case study of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries studies the diplomatic documents against the political and strategic background for the French Revolution and actions of Napoleon, and the Anglo/French rivalry, spreading from Europe to North America and Asia. In the twentieth century the environment for studying the place of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean was created by the Russian Revolution, the failure to keep the peace of Versailles after World War I, the conflict and horrors of World War II which led to the disintegration of European colonial empires in Asia and Africa, and the tensions generated by the Cold War. A study of the documents would reveal that in international relations what matters is the ability of a party to promote its interests, and this depends on its power. This realist approach contrasts to the idealist approach where policies are based on moral and ethical principles. For the realist the states should follow to protect their interests and to survive. To achieve this is to strive for a “balance of power”. To do so is to form a favourable alliance system. As the documents examined cover a period from the mid-eighteenth century to the later part of the twentieth century, they reflect the changing technologies that have had an influence on naval and military matters. For example, this period witnessed great changes in technology of energy utilized to propel warships, from wind, to steam, to fuel and finally to nuclear power. These changes had an influence in determining strategic policies involving weapon systems and communications within a global and regional setting. The period covered was the beginning of the process described a “globalisation”. Its idea is not unique to this century; there were many attempts, in various times of history, to integrate societies within a global context. Viewed in this light, the Anglo-French rivalry of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was the indication of a global naval strategy, in which Sri Lanka was a major factor in the Indian Ocean region. This process was associated with the phenomena called the “expansion of Europe”. It covered all the oceans of the world and in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries led to the founding of the largest maritime empire the world has ever seen: The British Empire. After World War I, the British naval strength (the basis of the British Empire) and her consequent position as a great power, was challenged by other powers like the United States of America and Japan. After World War II, the US Navy was supreme: and there was a close alliance between Britain and the USA. The strength of the US/British alliance was based on the navy and its bases, which were spread throughout the globe; to project power, and act as deterrence and balancing force. Sri Lanka, due to her strategic position, was a part of this evolving process, and was tied to a global strategy (with its regional connotations) from the eighteenth century to the present. CHAPTER I Introduction: Key Issues The Strategic Position of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka is an example of a small island state, strategically set in the Indian Ocean, which strives to follow an independent policy for its own security. 1 It is an island off the south-east coast of India, and the Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar separate it from India. Between Sri Lanka and India there are a number (in a chain) of small islands, which is popularly called Adam’s Bridge. The total area of Sri Lanka is 25,332 square miles. From north to south of the island the widest length is 273 miles, and the greatest width is 137 miles. There is a mountain mass at the centre of the island. Within this the highest peak (Piduruthalagala) is 8,281 feet. All the rivers rise in the central mountainous region of the country. The longest river is the Mahaveli Gahga that empties itself into the Indian Ocean at Trincomalee, within the East Province. The commanding position of Sri Lanka at the southern most point of the mainland of Asia, on the world’s highways between East and West, had drawn to its shores divergent peoples from early times. Due to trade and commerce, it lured the Greeks, the Romans and Arabs; subsequently in the modern era, the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British and the French. While these are in outline the main streams of relations in Sri Lanka with lands overseas, closer to home, its geographical position in relation to India steadily exerted a profound and enduring influence historically, socially and culturally. The Trincomalee Harbour is the most valuable asset of Sri Lanka. It is one of the world’s great natural harbours, placed in a strategic point near the Bay of Bengal.