New Delhi: A day after India signalled a more muscular approach towards Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Pakistan saying that the biggest threat to world peace came from “mindsets, thought streams, entities and instruments rooted in the idea of hate and violence”.
In his speech at the International Vesak Day celebrations—that mark the birth, enlightenment and passing of Lord Buddha—in Colombo, Modi, without naming Pakistan, said these “ideologies of hate and their proponents were not open to dialogue”.
“I firmly believe that Buddhism’s message of peace is the answer to growing arc of violence all over the world,” Modi said, adding: “Not just a negative notion of peace defined by the absence of conflict, but a positive peace where we all work to promote dialogue, harmony and justice, based on compassion and wisdom.”
Modi is on his second visit to Sri Lanka since taking office in May 2014. It comes as the Sri Lankan government rejected a request from India’s strategic rival China to dock one of its submarines in Colombo this month, according to news reports.
Sri Lanka last allowed a Chinese submarine to dock in Colombo in October 2014, a move that had resulted in a fraying of ties with New Delhi. But with a change of government in Colombo in 2015, ties were restored to an even keel.
In his speech, Modi said both countries were on the threshold of a “great opportunity” in ties.
“An opportunity to achieve a quantum jump in our partnership across different fields,” he said, adding: “We will continue to invest in driving positive change and economic growth to deepen our development cooperation.”
“Our strength lies in sharing our knowledge, capacity and prosperity. In trade and investment, we are already significant partners. We believe that free flow of trade, investments, technology and ideas across our borders will be to our mutual benefit. India’s rapid growth can bring dividends for the entire region, especially in Sri Lanka. In infrastructure and connectivity, transport and energy, we are poised to scale up our cooperation,” Modi said.
India is wary of Chinese efforts to rope in Sri Lanka into its sphere of influence, co-opting it into its One Belt One Road infrastructure initiative.
Analysts see Modi’s attendence at the Vesak Day celebrations as an attempt by the prime minister to underline the common cultural and religious links between the two countries. Besides Buddhism, another common link between India and Sri Lanka is its significant Tamil population, which constitutes a little more than 11% of the island nation’s 22 million population. Sri Lankan Tamils share strong cultural and familial links with Tamils in southern India.
In his speech, Modi announced the start of a new air route between India and Sri Lanka —connecting Colombo and Varanasi, Modi’s parliamentary constituency.
“This will ease travel to the land of Buddha for my brothers and sisters from Sri Lanka, and help you directly visit Sravasti, Kusinagar, Sankasa, Kaushambi and Sarnath. My Tamil brothers and sisters will also be able to visit Varanasi, the land of Kashi Viswanath,” Modi said.
Noting that India’s development cooperation with Sri Lanka amounted to $2.6 billion at present, Modi said, “its only aim is to support Sri Lanka in realizing a peaceful, prosperous and secure future for its people.”
“Because, the economic and social well-being of the people of Sri Lanka is linked with that of 1.25 billion Indians. Because, whether it is on land or in the waters of the Indian Ocean, the security of our societies is indivisible,” he said.
Later, Modi also addressed a gathering of Sri Lankan Tamils in Dickoya town in Sri Lanka’s tea-growing Central Province.
In his speech, Modi said majority Sinhala and minority Tamil communities should strengthen attempts at unity and harmony as he assured India’s full support to the steps taken by the Colombo government to improve the living conditions of Tamils in the country.
“Diversity calls for celebration and not confrontation. Sinhala and Tamil people and languages existed harmoniously,” Modi told the Tamils of Indian origin in Dickoya.
Sri Lanka is still recovering from the aftermath of a nearly three-decade-long bloody civil war between the government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which fought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and the east of the island. The civil strife ended in 2009 with the defeat of the rebels.
“We need to strengthen, not separate, (these) threads of unity and harmony,” Modi said. “The government and people of India are with you in your journey towards peace and greater prosperity,” he added.