Gotabaya Rajapaksa sworn in as new Sri Lankan president

HeinzGud

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Sri Lanka's former wartime defence chief Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who won the election on Sunday, was sworn in as president of the island nation on Monday.

Rajapaksa, who oversaw the military defeat of Tamil separatists under his brother and then president Mahinda Rajapaksa 10 years ago, has promised strong leadership to secure the island of 22 million people, the majority of whom are Sinhalese Buddhists.

Rajapaksa will succeed Maithripala Sirisena whose tenure was marred by a terrorist attack on churches and luxury hotels in April 2019.

Rajapaksa, 70, would be the latest nationalist leader swept to power across the world, tapping into the anger and fears of majority communities.

He and his brothers, who are expected to get key positions, are also seen as closer to China, which has invested billions of dollars building ports, expressways and power stations.

But these projects have also led to high debt levels for Sri Lanka.

Premadasa, a housing minister in the current government that has faced criticism for failing to protect Sri Lankans in the wake of the suicide bombings in April, conceded defeat.

"After a hard-fought and spirited election campaign, It is my privilege to honour the decision of the people and congratulate Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa on his election as the seventh President of Sri Lanka," Premadasa said.

https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/gotabaya-rajapaksa-sworn-in-as-sri-lankan-new-president-262851
 

amoy

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Politics aside SL should simply waive visa requirement for Chinese tourists. I think Nepal did that long ago and gives Chinese the same treatment as SAARC visitors to some tourism attractions. Around 10 million Chinese are swarming Thailand per year, and will be very likely tired of it.

Perhaps SL may be worried about illegal foreign immigrants or overstays. However Chinese are distinctively different from locals thus easily identifiable. Usually Chinese are big spenders and many are semi-Buddhists as I observed.

Years ago when I visited SL a lady told me SL should attract more western tourists and investors blah blah. I said frankly Westerners had been well off ahead of orientals and their (tourism) potential had been much explored. In contrast the Chinese nouveau riche (not in a derogatory way) are beginning to taste the fruits of economic growth. Lankans have to change their mindset and look east while past worship of "white pprivilege" gets outdated.
 
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Flying Dagger

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Politics aside SL should simply waive visa requirement for Chinese tourists. I think Nepal did that long ago and gives Chinese the same treatment as SAARC visitors to some tourism attractions. Around 10 million Chinese are swarming Thailand per year, and will be very likely tired of it.

Perhaps SL may be worried about illegal foreign immigrants or overstays. However Chinese are distinctively different from locals thus easily identifiable. Usually Chinese are big spenders and many are semi-Buddhists as I observed.

Years ago when I visited SL a lady told me SL should attract more western tourists and investors blah blah. I said frankly Westerners had been well off ahead of orientals and their (tourism) potential had been much explored. In contrast the Chinese nouveau riche (not in a derogatory way) are beginning to taste the fruits of economic growth. Lankans have to change their mindset and look east while past worship of "white pprivilege" gets outdated.
I think it might be because of Chinese tourist behaviour which is very rude and arrogant that locals from other nation don't value or respect them.

Just like Indians are known for spending less and bargaining hard.

On the contrary Japanese and koreans are very nice people as i have observed .
 

amoy

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I think it might be because of Chinese tourist behaviour which is very rude and arrogant that locals from other nation don't value or respect them.

Just like Indians are known for spending less and bargaining hard.

On the contrary Japanese and koreans are very nice people as i have observed .
to a great extent I agree with u. but thanks to increasing international exposure things are gradually improving especially with younger generations.
 

HeinzGud

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How is the new President's bearing on INDIA and its policies! from your perspective and the nations perspective!
@HeinzGud
He has already stated in his inaugural speech that he wants Sri Lanka to be a neutral state in world affairs. So, his foreign policy will be directed at keeping Sri Lanka out of matters of foreign interests.

However, we expect more Chinese investments on the island specially in Port City project. There are new highways to be built also. I do not know what will happen to the H'tota port. I don't really know whether there is a legal way to take back the port even by paying the money back. It was a colossal blunder by the previous regime and unnecessary one altogether.

There will not be any chartering of any other port or airport to India, China or any other country. So the Mattala deal of India will be out. There will not be nor bridges linking India and Sri Lanka nor any other highway connecting Mannar and Trincomalee.

Sri Lanka will definitely not tolerate gimmicks like article 370 regarding Sri Lanka. India should stay away from local political matters completely.

Indian companies will be wholly welcome to invest in Sri Lanka. We are expecting that the economy to grow from now on as a stable government has come to stay for a 5 years.
 

HeinzGud

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Politics aside SL should simply waive visa requirement for Chinese tourists. I think Nepal did that long ago and gives Chinese the same treatment as SAARC visitors to some tourism attractions. Around 10 million Chinese are swarming Thailand per year, and will be very likely tired of it.

Perhaps SL may be worried about illegal foreign immigrants or overstays. However Chinese are distinctively different from locals thus easily identifiable. Usually Chinese are big spenders and many are semi-Buddhists as I observed.

Years ago when I visited SL a lady told me SL should attract more western tourists and investors blah blah. I said frankly Westerners had been well off ahead of orientals and their (tourism) potential had been much explored. In contrast the Chinese nouveau riche (not in a derogatory way) are beginning to taste the fruits of economic growth. Lankans have to change their mindset and look east while past worship of "white pprivilege" gets outdated.
That is a good idea. It might be considered for action. People will welcome then as long as Chinese tourists behaves well.
 

HeinzGud

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I didn’t get this part....... where is the correlation between art 370 and Sri Lanka.

I’ll get to my next points later...
It means that Sri Lanka will not tolerate gimmicks like that. Backdoor deals, RAW etc.,
 

ezsasa

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It means that Sri Lanka will not tolerate gimmicks like that. Backdoor deals, RAW etc.,
Good point..

Since we too are a democracy we are fully aware of the kind of discourse that happens during an election season.

But has this point been considered that india and it’s neighbourhood is one of the least interconnected nation groupings in the world. South east Asia, Europe, South America and Americas in general, Russia & its neighbours, Arab regions are all well interconnected politically and economically.

Someday we will have to start thinking on why our region is not as interconnected as it should be, and how long can we stay this way. Every year we delay we are postponing our shared prosperity.

In India we all know there is heavy foreign interference in our internal politics, that is not stopping us with carrying on with doing business with those countries like US, UK, China , Russia & Germany.

It’s upto Sri Lankan’s to realise this point, because interconnectivity is a national policy for Indian govt. oil pipe lines & rail lines to Nepal, waterways with Bangladesh, electricity imports from Bhutan, India-Myanmar-Thailand highway are some of the interconnectivity projects ongoing right now.

How long this old narrative will be allowed to delay regional interconnectivity?
 

aghamarshana

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It simply means no meddling in Sri Lankan affairs.
Art360? I didn't get that part,mate. I think u were referring to Art370 of J&K which was scrapped in Aug. But that ain't related remotely to SL. Afaik,our present govt is inclined towards security and stability in the region, so no, raw will not give troubles 2 u, it only does it's job. Anyways,congrats for electing a strong personality. Hope ur new govt looks at strengthening ties within subcontinent and help us in our war against Islamic terror which is hindering peace and prosperity of all nations in IOR.
 

aghamarshana

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He has already stated in his inaugural speech that he wants Sri Lanka to be a neutral state in world affairs. So, his foreign policy will be directed at keeping Sri Lanka out of matters of foreign interests.

However, we expect more Chinese investments on the island specially in Port City project. There are new highways to be built also. I do not know what will happen to the H'tota port. I don't really know whether there is a legal way to take back the port even by paying the money back. It was a colossal blunder by the previous regime and unnecessary one altogether.

There will not be any chartering of any other port or airport to India, China or any other country. So the Mattala deal of India will be out. There will not be nor bridges linking India and Sri Lanka nor any other highway connecting Mannar and Trincomalee.

Sri Lanka will definitely not tolerate gimmicks like article 370 regarding Sri Lanka. India should stay away from local political matters completely.

Indian companies will be wholly welcome to invest in Sri Lanka. We are expecting that the economy to grow from now on as a stable government has come to stay for a 5 years.
Actually SL can benefit a lot from connectivity with the rest of the world. For that first it needs to connect with India which is the door of S.Asia to the world. You can't just have a stable govt and yet don't reap benefits outta it like Burmese junta-land, closed. SL has a huge HR potential. U can have a robust services sector which makes u even richer per capita. U need to tap the adv of being in a prime location with a smaller population.
 

hit&run

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It simply means no meddling in Sri Lankan affairs.
Re: Kashmir;370.

This excuse has outlived its utility.

1. India punished you because you allowed Americans and Pakistan during 1965 and 1971 war and thereafter.

2. India has god-given right to react if you do not behave like a normal neighbour.

3. To my frustration, India helped you eradicate LTTE even when we had no compulsion to garner your support on any of our internal issues including Kashmir and we still don't care.

4. India will never interfere in your matters if the spillover does not flood our shores. This is our document of faith for all the neighbours. We do not dumb down our own conventions.

5. The reality for Sri Lanka is and it must be humbly acknowledged; no patronizing from our side. India is too big for you guys to have any chip to use. Look at our forum we always acknowledge the power and respect it while calculating our response. We do not punch above our weight this why we are acceptable to all flavours of Geo-politics. Sri Lanka can learn a couple of things from us. There is no harm being a realist.
 

HeinzGud

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To be precise, Sri Lanka never undermined Indian military or strategic interest purposefully. We never welcomed Chinese, US or Pakistani military presence in Sri Lanka even during the civil war. It never occured beyond 2009 as well.

India should not be paranoid about Sri Lanka. We are no military threat to India.

However, the chance of giving Tamils more power or authority is slim to none.
 

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