Sri Lanka's strategic importance.
If the world is showing an extraordinary interest in the peace process in Sri Lanka; if the western donor nations have given $3 billion for post-tsunami reconstruction work in the island; and if India wants to be kept informed about what is going on constantly, it is because of Sri Lanka's strategic importance.
This conclusion is inescapable if one reads 'Strategic Significance of Sri Lanka' by a researcher of Deakin University Australia.
In this 2005 publication, brought out by Stamford Lake, Somasundaram tells us that Sri Lanka has had strategic importance in world history since the 17th century, attracting the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and the British, in succession. Now, we may add a new entity, "the international community", to the list of interested parties.
The author gives three reasons for such interest: (1) Sri Lanka is strategically situated (2) It is ideally situated to be a major communication center, and (3) It has Trincomalee, described by the British Admiral Horatio Nelson as "the finest harbour in the world".
Sri Lanka occupies a strategic point in the Indian Ocean, whose vast expanse covering 2,850,000 sq miles, touches the shores of the Indian subcontinent in the North; Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia in the East; Antartica in the South; and East Africa in the West.
The Indian Ocean encompasses the Red Sea approach to the Suez Canal, and the approaches to the oil-rich Gulf, the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Malacca, which is a major sea route between the West and the Far East.
Sri Lanka, with its natural harbour of Trincomalee, is at a strategic point in the whole region, having global significance in the modern age, Somasundaram notes. The Trincomalee harbour, he adds, is placed in a strategic point near the Bay of Bengal and is one of Sri Lanka's "most valuable assets".
The entrance to the harbour is four miles wide and five miles across, East to West. The inner harbour (which lies in the North) covers about 12 sq miles and is securely enclosed by outcrops of huge rocks and small islets. A remarkable feature is the great depth of the inner harbour, he says.
During the period of sailing ships, the harbour could ensure the safety of a whole fleet during the monsoon, from October to March. A fleet, so protected, was in a position to dominate the Bay of Bengal and the Eastern Sea.
"Thus any power that controlled this harbour had a great advantage from a naval and strategic perspective," Somasundaram observes. He goes on to say that the fact that the British had Trincomalee enabled them to control their Empire in India, effectively. During World War II, Trincomalee protected the British Seventh Fleet. It proved invaluable after the British lost the Singapore naval base to the Japanese in 1942.
"Given the depth of the harbour, nuclear submarines are able to dive low within the inner harbour to effectively avoid radar and sonar detection," he observes.
Somasundaram shows how diplomatic relations between the indigenous Kandyan kingdom and the European powers in the 18th and 19th centuries; the post-war/post-independence diplomatic relations of the Ceylon government; and the relations between Sri Lanka and India since the 1980s, have all revolved round who will use Trincolmalee harbour and how it should be used.
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"Bases available to the USAF for operations in South Asia are in Thailand and Singapore. The US has a long-standing defence treaty relationship with Thailand and use of a Royal Thai naval air station in U Tapaho. It has a similar defence treaty arrangement with Singapore. But the above-mentioned US DoD study notes that New Delhi is 1600 nm from Bangkok bases in central Saudi Arabia and 2600 nm from Singapore."
"Therefore the US began to actively look for and seek basing opportunities in countries closer to India from 1990. In this process, the US availed itself of intelligence, military, diplomatic and economic leverage and access enjoyed in the target countries by its main security partners i.e., Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore."
"Sri Lanka was a prime candidate for two reasons:
(The CIA station chief in Colombo is the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US embassy) The CIA station in New Delhi also liases with the DII on specific projects. The world’s largest intelligence organization, the National Security Agency (NSA), has a presence in Colombo and works through the US army/Defense Intelligence Agency office in the US mission in Colombo. The level of its operations is not clear.
If the world is showing an extraordinary interest in the peace process in Sri Lanka; if the western donor nations have given $3 billion for post-tsunami reconstruction work in the island; and if India wants to be kept informed about what is going on constantly, it is because of Sri Lanka's strategic importance.
This conclusion is inescapable if one reads 'Strategic Significance of Sri Lanka' by a researcher of Deakin University Australia.
In this 2005 publication, brought out by Stamford Lake, Somasundaram tells us that Sri Lanka has had strategic importance in world history since the 17th century, attracting the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and the British, in succession. Now, we may add a new entity, "the international community", to the list of interested parties.
The author gives three reasons for such interest: (1) Sri Lanka is strategically situated (2) It is ideally situated to be a major communication center, and (3) It has Trincomalee, described by the British Admiral Horatio Nelson as "the finest harbour in the world".
Sri Lanka occupies a strategic point in the Indian Ocean, whose vast expanse covering 2,850,000 sq miles, touches the shores of the Indian subcontinent in the North; Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia in the East; Antartica in the South; and East Africa in the West.
The Indian Ocean encompasses the Red Sea approach to the Suez Canal, and the approaches to the oil-rich Gulf, the Cape of Good Hope and the Strait of Malacca, which is a major sea route between the West and the Far East.
Sri Lanka, with its natural harbour of Trincomalee, is at a strategic point in the whole region, having global significance in the modern age, Somasundaram notes. The Trincomalee harbour, he adds, is placed in a strategic point near the Bay of Bengal and is one of Sri Lanka's "most valuable assets".
The entrance to the harbour is four miles wide and five miles across, East to West. The inner harbour (which lies in the North) covers about 12 sq miles and is securely enclosed by outcrops of huge rocks and small islets. A remarkable feature is the great depth of the inner harbour, he says.
During the period of sailing ships, the harbour could ensure the safety of a whole fleet during the monsoon, from October to March. A fleet, so protected, was in a position to dominate the Bay of Bengal and the Eastern Sea.
"Thus any power that controlled this harbour had a great advantage from a naval and strategic perspective," Somasundaram observes. He goes on to say that the fact that the British had Trincomalee enabled them to control their Empire in India, effectively. During World War II, Trincomalee protected the British Seventh Fleet. It proved invaluable after the British lost the Singapore naval base to the Japanese in 1942.
Ideal for nuclear submarines
Trincomalee has immense significance in this age of nuclear weaponry and nuclear submarine-based missile systems also, the author points out.
"Given the depth of the harbour, nuclear submarines are able to dive low within the inner harbour to effectively avoid radar and sonar detection," he observes.
Somasundaram shows how diplomatic relations between the indigenous Kandyan kingdom and the European powers in the 18th and 19th centuries; the post-war/post-independence diplomatic relations of the Ceylon government; and the relations between Sri Lanka and India since the 1980s, have all revolved round who will use Trincolmalee harbour and how it should be used.
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"Bases available to the USAF for operations in South Asia are in Thailand and Singapore. The US has a long-standing defence treaty relationship with Thailand and use of a Royal Thai naval air station in U Tapaho. It has a similar defence treaty arrangement with Singapore. But the above-mentioned US DoD study notes that New Delhi is 1600 nm from Bangkok bases in central Saudi Arabia and 2600 nm from Singapore."
"Therefore the US began to actively look for and seek basing opportunities in countries closer to India from 1990. In this process, the US availed itself of intelligence, military, diplomatic and economic leverage and access enjoyed in the target countries by its main security partners i.e., Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore."
"Sri Lanka was a prime candidate for two reasons:
- “The central position of the island between the Straits of Malacca and Hormuzâ€. The US DoD study observes that Sri Lanka’s “infrastructure for basing opportunities are excellentâ€. The USAF, DIA team that visited Palaly, China Bay, Sigiriya, Koggala and Kuda Oya in 2001 did a brief update regarding Sri Lanka of the RAND study “The US and Asia: Toward a New Force Posture. (A public version of the study is available at the RAND Corp. It does not give the true picture) The research for South Asia project was sponsored the US Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, US Air Force and the Commander of the US’s Pacific Air Forces. A classified version of this update on Sri Lanka was given to the Sri Lanka Air Force and Army headquarters and DMI for comments. It was basically about improving Palaly, China Bay and advantage of building new international dual-purpose airfield in Kuda Oya. If the update is read together with the RAND report it gives a clear picture of US strategic aims in developing Palaly, Trinco, Kuda Oya.
- Sri Lanka’s military and intelligence services had long-standing and close institutional relationship with the British MI6, MI5, and the Central Intelligence Agency. The MI6 provided the main component of the training program for the Special Branch, which became the NIB in 1984 (and currently known as the Directorate of Internal Intelligence)."
(The CIA station chief in Colombo is the Deputy Chief of Mission of the US embassy) The CIA station in New Delhi also liases with the DII on specific projects. The world’s largest intelligence organization, the National Security Agency (NSA), has a presence in Colombo and works through the US army/Defense Intelligence Agency office in the US mission in Colombo. The level of its operations is not clear.
