A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Saturday, May 6, 2017
South Asian leaders pat Modi for gifting satellite to the region
PM hosts ‘Mini-SAARC summit’ via video-conferencing after GSLV launch.
Taking both space diplomacy and India’s outreach to the neighbours into a
“new orbit”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a unique joint
videoconference of the leaders of all SAARC countries, apart from
Pakistan who had declined to join the South Asia satellite programme,
shortly after the successful launch of the GSLV GSAT 9.
“The South Asia satellite demonstrates that our collective choices for
our citizens will bring us together for cooperation, not conflict;
development, not destruction; and prosperity, not poverty,” Mr. Modi
told the leaders on the videoconference, including Afghanistan President
Ashraf Ghani, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bhutan PM
Tshering Tobgay, Maldives President Abdulla Yameen, Nepal Prime Minister
Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and Sri Lankan President Maithripala
Sirisena. Ambassadors of all six nations were also invited to witness
the lift-off at ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
The video-conference, which had not been declared prior to the event,
was announced by PM Modi as a “surprise” barely moments after he
congratulated ISRO scientists for the successful launch on twitter.
“The support and presence of these leaders will add even more joy in the
hearts & minds of our region,” Mr. Modi said, adding, “We are a
united family of South Asian countries, united in our pursuit of peace,
progress & prosperity of our region & the entire humankind.
Speaking by turn the other leaders congratulated India for its
technological success as well as Mr. Modi personally for turning his
“vision to reality” by seeing the Rs. 450 crore launch through.
“I am grateful to PM Modi and the people of India for the very special
gift to the South Asian region and compliment the PM and India’s
visionary ‘Neighbourhood first’ policy,” said Maldivian President
Yameen. “The launch of the South Asia satellite is historic for the
world as this is the first time a country has launched a satellite for
the free use of its neighbours,” added Bhutan PM Tobgay, calling it an
“impressive milestone in regional cooperation.”
Nepal’s PM particularly noted the satellite’s role in developing
communications in his country’s mountainous and remote areas. Both
Bangladesh PM Hasina and Sri Lankan President Sirisena also praised the
potential uses of the GSLV GSAT 9 in meeting developmental needs in the
areas of tele-medicine, tele-education, banking and television KU-band
broadcasting opportunities.
Mr. Modi had proposed the plan for the shared satellite as a gift to the
neighbourhood, during the SAARC summit in Kathmandu in 2014. However,
after Pakistan pulled out of the project, it was called the “South Asia
satellite” rather than the SAARC satellite.
Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nafees Zakaria said the
country was initially "keen to participate in the project”, but claimed
“India was not willing to develop the project on a collaborative basis”.
Referring to Pakistan’s refusal to also join India’s proposal of a SAARC
motor vehicle agreement that had stopped Afghanistan from being linked
to it, Afghan President Ghani said in his address on the videoconference
that “If cooperation through land is not possible, it is certainly
possible through sky and we are confident that [South Asia] will
integrate.”
The successful launch is seen as a success for both the government’s
declared objective of working with SAARC countries “minus Pakistan” if
it refused to cooperate, as well as an important step in South Asian
connectivity just ahead of the major Belt and Road forum in China that
India is staying out of, but other South Asian countries have joined.
“This launch tells us that even the sky is not the limit when it comes
to regional cooperation,” PM Modi said as he thanked the leaders for
joining him in the celebration of the GSLV launch.