There is some reason to wonder whether the visit of President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the United States, purportedly for medical reasons, was initiated by US in order to discuss matters regarding Chinese inroads into Sri Lanka and the increase in Chinese maritime supremacy in the Indian Ocean. Bargaining over this matter might have happened preliminary to Rajapaksa’s visit and a carrot might have been extended to him in the form of a promise to derail all attempts to establish an international war crimes inquiry and possibly even a guarantee to support the Rajapaksa regime irrespective of its authoritarian nature as long as elections are the formal source of his authority. The fact that Foreign Secretary GL Peiris has joined him for what is supposed to be a private, medically-related visit is noteworthy. At the very least, this line of inquiry should be considered and pursued by journalists and members of the US Congress, in order to determine whether the visit is indeed only the medical trip it has been presented as being. For information on the visit, see:
MR’s visit to US – more in it than meets the eye
Jan 23, 2011