Rajapaksa’s bad gamble 

Himal 
Some of India's 'little leaders': Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalitha, and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee (from left to right).
After India’s vote against Sri Lanka at the UNHCR, Southasian states can no longer count on New Delhi’s centrality in formulating Indian foreign policy.

In the veritable swirl of conspiracy theories emanating from Colombo on why India voted against Sri Lanka in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March, the most compelling as well as ostensibly tenable one links New Delhi’s decision to its fear of China. In that theory, China’s growing role in the economy of the Emerald Isle of the East goaded New Delhi into using its vote in the UNHRC to warn Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa – he could step out from under the Indian umbrella at his own peril.

Conspiracy theories often reveal more about the psychology of their promoters than about the contested facts and 

Rajapaksa has fallen back on strident nationalism. Image: flickr user indi.ca, CC license

Full Story>>>