- 10 hours ago
Namal Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan MP, raised concerns over the sinking of the Iranian naval vessel IRIS Dena near Sri Lankan waters, saying the incident could be viewed as illegal and undermines long-standing norms in the Indian Ocean.
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00:00Hello and welcome everyone once again to the India Today Conclave 2026 where we are joined
00:06by another very special guest. The West Asia war has literally hit home and the first sign of that
00:14war hitting home was last week when an Iranian ship which had just completed peaceful exercises
00:22with the Indian Navy off the coast of Vishakhapatnam was sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka. More than 80
00:31Iranians died and some of them are recovering today in a hospital in Gaul and Colombo in Sri Lanka
00:39which is why we thought we must have a Sri Lankan voice here as we look at various dimensions of
00:47the conflict. We are delighted to be joined by one of the prominent opposition faces and son of a
00:53family that has been in power in Sri Lanka for a long time. He's also I can tell you a
01:00rugby player
01:01for his country. Please welcome Namal Rajapaksha. And also in Sinhalese to say Ayuboven. I hope I
01:11said it right. That's Vanakam. Vanakam in Tamil, Ayubhuvan in Sinhalese. Absolutely. My colleague
01:18Nagarjun Dwarkanath is also with us and I want to start Namal and the reason we have you here is
01:24you were the first voice who actually spoke out against the sinking of Iris Dena, the Iranian
01:34ship off the waters of Sri Lanka. How do you see it now in hindsight? Do you believe that this
01:41was
01:41a brazen war of aggression, illegal to sink a ship which was clearly not involved in the conflict
01:49off the coast of Sri Lanka? Well I mean it's a question of Indian Ocean identity because Indian
01:56Ocean is known to be a safe zone and that's one of the main reasons why the global trade take
02:03place
02:03mostly from our part of the world. So now there's a precedent. There's a precedent of a submarine attack
02:10on a foreign vessel. Whether it's a legal question or whether it's ethical, academics and politicians
02:18can debate for many years but something that we must take into consideration is there is a precedent.
02:26There is a precedent in Indian Ocean where a foreign vessel been attacked. As I said whether the action
02:33is right or wrong is to be debated. No, no, don't debate it. You tell us where you stand. Is
02:37it illegal?
02:38Is it unethical that a US submarine torpedoes, an Iranian ship which was doing peaceful exercises of
02:48Vishakha Patnam just off the coast of Sri Lanka in the exclusive economic zone? Yes, if you look at the
02:56legality of it, it can be argued as it is illegal and the question is whether there is international
03:03law on today's context. Because if you look at what's happening in the Middle East or in the Gulf War,
03:09the international law and human rights or whatever they preached to us some time ago is to be
03:15questioned by themselves at this stage. So as I said academics can argue the legality of this but moral
03:24values and the ethics and the practice of Indian Ocean clearly being broken. And that is something
03:31that we have to bring into dialogue in our part of the world. Are we going to allow it in
03:37the future
03:37or are we going to make sure that we come on order? Who's the we here? Is it Sri Lanka,
03:42India,
03:43all the countries which have a shared interest in the Indian Ocean who should be raising their voice and
03:48not stay silent when the Americans believe they can get away with sinking an Iranian ship?
03:55Well see, there was a dialogue in 2011 with India, Sri Lanka and Maldives which was supposed,
04:00which initiated looking at MDA maritime domain awareness in our part of the region. And it was
04:07unfortunately slowed down at one point and now I'm sure the countries are looking at establishing the
04:13secretariat of MDA or the Columbus Security Council in our part of the world. And yes, I personally believe
04:20India has a major role to play as a great power and as a country which has the capacity to
04:25do so. But again,
04:28it comes to the question of morality and I believe the region must get together and to make sure that
04:34we
04:35keep our region safe. I'll add something to this. It's nothing, it's not, it's not only about another nation,
04:40because as you know, we went through a terrorist organization, we fought with the terrorist organization
04:45for 30 years and LTT had many submarines, submersibles at that time and they had two dopedos. So the
04:54technology is not only with the governments or military, it's with other organizations as well. It can be
05:01any other organization, any part of the world, but the military technology is not going to be
05:07only with the governments in our region or world at large. So this is something about the identity
05:13of Indian Ocean and this is some, this is where we believe the dialogue has to start all over again.
05:20In fact, when you spoke about the identity of the Indian Ocean and the dialogue has to be
05:23started, did the Sri Lankan government or do you think the Sri Lankan government should have asked an
05:28official explanation from the U.S. as to what exactly happened in your territory?
05:33I believe so. I honestly thought that we will get explanation, we will ask for explanation from
05:39the authorities, from the U.S. government or at least the mission back in Sri Lanka because we cannot
05:46walk away saying it happened in economic zone, it's not in our waters. And yes, Sri Lanka maybe doesn't
05:52have the capacity to detect a submarine. As you know, submarine can be detected only by another
05:56submarine. But we do have a right, it's a sovereign right of Sri Lanka and we have a right to
06:01ask what
06:02happened and the question goes back to the government of Sri Lanka whether we knew about it or not.
06:06And that's something to be answered by the government of Sri Lanka. An island like Sri Lanka, how difficult is
06:11it to remain neutral considering a superpower is involved in this war? Well, see, we have always maintained
06:17an underlying policy and we have, that's one of the reasons why we initiated in 1971 the zone of
06:23peace by Mrs. Bandarnak at that time. Because conflicts and decisions made by so-called superpowers,
06:29because superpower is determined about with your military power and your financial power,
06:33will affect our countries, the island nations like us. And today it is evident that it will not
06:38only affect island nations, but it will also affect the entire world. You know, because there's a
06:43Reuters report, Namal Rajapaksha, that a US State Department cable has urged Sri Lanka not to repatriate
06:52the survivors from Iris Dena and crew from the Iranian vessel that is currently in Sri Lankan custody.
07:00Do you believe that the United States can use their hard power in this manner to tell your country or
07:07indeed any country in the world that on human grounds you cannot repatriate the survivors of a blast
07:14which you are admitting is possibly illegal and almost certainly unethical? It is definitely unethical
07:20and you can say, but it's how you react. And I believe Sri Lanka has appreciated in the past how
07:25we have
07:26reacted in situations like this. And the world has enough examples due to the Second World War, if you
07:32look at how things like this have taken place. And I'm sure Sri Lanka must take our own decision on
07:36this.
07:36What is your view that should the Sri Lankan government tell the Americans, sorry,
07:40this is a matter of our strategic autonomy, that we will not be dictated by Donald Trump in the United
07:46States. We must repatriate survivors of Iris Dena on humanitarian grounds back to their country.
07:53Yes, Sri Lanka has to make sure that we maintain our standards, we maintain our stand on this and also
07:59make sure that these people are safe because it's happening in our waters. And now they're in Sri Lanka.
08:04Sri Lanka has a responsibility to make sure they are safe. And the practice is in such situation,
08:09you don't repatriate until the war is over. So Sri Lankan government can make a decision on this.
08:13Anyone can request, anyone can request or give an order. But at the end of the day, it's how our
08:18governments take our own decisions for our own people.
08:20And presumably India also has a role because this was a ship which was engaged in peaceful exercises,
08:27peaceful military exercises of the coast of India was on its way back when this happened. So are you
08:33saying both India and Sri Lanka must make it clear to the Americans that you cannot unilaterally decide
08:40for us whether we will repatriate Iranian survivors or not?
08:44Well, there has to be a strategic communication between the region and to make sure that we all act
08:51as one and also to take the best interest of each one's nations.
08:57In fact, you also share a close relationship with Iran. And I'm told that many of your oil
09:03also comes from this Middle East parts of the world. And what is the crisis that Sri Lanka is facing?
09:09In fact, in India, we have seen people lining up in queues for cylinders and LPG shortage.
09:14Is Sri Lanka also facing this?
09:17Yes, Sri Lanka saw it last week actually, just after the war broke out in the Middle East.
09:21And this is where Sri Lankan government has to make sure that we plan ahead to see how we can
09:26face
09:26this crisis because, as you know, our number one T-buyer is Iran. And we are depending heavily on fuel
09:32coming from the Middle East. And one of our main revenue is foreign remittance coming from the Middle East
09:38and also tourism sector. So all these sectors are affected. And we need to re-strategize ourselves
09:44and to see how we can face the upcoming situation.
09:47But if the fact is that the Straits of Hormuz have been blocked by the Iranians,
09:52as a result of which the entire energy security of several countries across the world have been
09:58disrupted, who do you speak to? I was hearing the ambassadors saying India must raise its concerns
10:06about the West Asia war with Washington. Do you speak to Washington? Do you speak to Tehran? Do you
10:11speak to both? The problem is how does any country in this extremely polarized world ensure some kind of
10:20neutrality? The Indians last week were seen to have moved very close to the US-Israel axis. Now we are
10:28hearing India saying Iran is a very good friend. So we pivoted in the space of a week because of
10:33what's
10:34happening with oil. How do countries maintain neutrality in a very polarized world? You're
10:39smiling when I say that. Is that the real big challenge? How do you maintain any semblance of
10:46neutrality? Do any of the South Asian countries have the leverage to tell Donald Trump? This is our
10:52this is our Indian Ocean. You don't decide which submarine does what in the Indian Ocean?
10:57Well, I mean, this this actually happened in the Middle East, but still we are suffering from it.
11:01So it doesn't matter where it happens in modern context. And this is why this is why
11:08so-called superpowers must realize and understand whatever decisions they make
11:11will have a big impact on the global economy as well. And and Sri Lanka has always look up to
11:17India
11:17on these kind of situations. I mean, if you look at the crisis we went through in 2022,
11:22in fact, India helped Sri Lanka more than IMF has said so far and even during the DITWA.
11:27But again, the question is, how are we going to stop stop these kind of situ incidents and how are
11:33we going to act? So this is where I believe there has to be a fresh dialogue within the region
11:39and to
11:39see how as a region, as Indian Ocean, to make sure that we keep our water safe and also every
11:46government
11:47is answerable for their people. And do you see India play a larger role in keeping this peace
11:51across the Indian Ocean? Do you think India should step up and maybe take the consensus of all the
11:56island nations around them and then take the communication forward? Well, it has to be a
12:00collective approach and I'm sure India can be play a breeding role in that because given the context of
12:05the economic capacity of India and also the military capacity India has. You know, because I thought you
12:10were quite brave or at least right, if I may use the word, in a social media statement, you are
12:17among
12:17the few who in this region spoke out right at the very outset when you said, Iran has always been
12:23a true
12:24friend and I offer my deepest condolences to the families of all those who have been reportedly
12:29assassinated in the airstrikes. We stand with the people of Iran in this hour of need and call on all
12:36parties to exercise restraint and discussions rather than choosing a path of war. Now, most
12:42leaders in this part of the world have been reluctant at least initially to identify themselves with Iran.
12:48You are among the few. Do you believe that other leaders also need to recognize that at the end of
12:55the day, we need to have our strategic autonomy and speak out when there is seemingly a war of aggression
13:03that is costing civilian lives? Well, of course, I mean, see Iran has been a true friend to Sri Lanka
13:08for a very longer time and we have had a lot of relationship with Iran, historical relationship
13:13with Iran and war is brutal and voice cannot be accepted and we feel how we have gone through a
13:19war
13:19for 30 years. We know how we how you feel when you go through a war and to peace to
13:24make to make sure
13:25that there is peace. I'm the rest of the world must get together and make sure that, you know,
13:30it is for the next generation that you're talking about. What would you tell Donald Trump if he was
13:34here at the India today conclave? Luckily, he's not here today, so. What if he was? What if he was?
13:40What would you tell a Donald Trump? What would tiny Sri Lanka, if I may be allowed to say that,
13:44what would tiny Sri Lanka tell the seemingly mighty United States? Do you have to use a Sinhalese word or
13:50English word for that? You can say it in Sinhalese and then Nagarjun can translate? I'd rather use a
13:56Tamil word only, he understands. Please do, please do. What would you do? Well, see, end of the day,
14:01they make decisions and they think they are super power. They may be having power, they may be having
14:06financial power, end of the day, they also must understand whatever decision they make will have
14:10impact on islands like us. So they might have got a mandate from their own people,
14:16as they claim to be. And they have to make sure that the world order is in place.
14:23Perhaps you also see a future in Sri Lankan politics in the next five to ten years. You come
14:29from a political family that has governed or ruled the country for many years as well. The recent 2022
14:35crisis, many critics also say that it was Mr. Rajapaksa's presidency which bought this crisis. And in fact,
14:42we have a video and an image that if I can ask my producers to play on the screen of
14:48how the crisis
14:49looked back then and then we'll have a word from you. And these are the rioters, in fact, people
14:55getting into the government buildings, trying to create arson, riots. Many critics say that it was
15:01your family that was responsible for this crisis and the economic slowdown. How do you see this?
15:07And what lessons learned, in fact? You cannot take 2022 crisis as a single entry point. But you have to
15:13go back and see what has happened before that. And also what happened in the region after that. So,
15:202005 to 15, we were fighting a war, but we were one of the fastest growing economies in the region.
15:24And we had single digit number four, we had single digit in unemployment, interest rates were single
15:30digit, and we were growing at a four-fault of our GDP. Everything was going smooth. But then there was
15:36a
15:36government change in 2015. Certain decisions were made by different governments that is acceptable
15:41because every government make their own policy changes. Then east attacks were there in Sri Lanka. Then
15:48we came with the pandemic. As you know, 80 other countries face a similar crisis after the pandemic,
15:54economical challenges. Then the 2022 Sri Lankan crisis came into place. And we strongly believe
16:00there was an outside hand operating in Sri Lanka to make sure that there is a regime change or
16:05government change in an undemocratical way, which we have seen in Bangladesh, which we have seen in
16:09Nepal, which we have seen in the region. So, it's a different form of regime change. You can either bomb,
16:15or you can either do it in other way.
16:18No, no. Who's the outside hand? Let's be clear, Mr. Rajapaksha. Your government, your leadership was
16:26credited with ending the ethnic war that had plagued Sri Lanka for more than two decades. Your family was
16:33also accused of serious corruption, of very, very serious corruption at the cost of impoverishing your
16:40country. So, one of the two things, both could be right. You know, you all ended the war, but the
16:48Rajapakshas were also accused of becoming authoritarian and totally corrupt. What will you tell the people
16:53of this country when they hear? These were the two narratives.
16:57You asked me what would I ask from President Trump, right? So, I asked him why did USAID fund,
17:01why did he made the statement of USAID funding in regime change in our region? It was made by President
17:06Donald Trump, once he became the president, about funding for regime change in our region. As to
17:12corruption, yes… You are blaming the United States for regime change in Sri Lanka? Not me.
17:16Donald Trump, the president himself, has blamed USAID for that, on his own statement when he became
17:20the president. Okay, the corruption allegation. So, see, there has been allegations. There has been
17:25cases. We have won in courts. And in fact, I must highlight one fact what happened here, day before
17:32yesterday. There was a former official who was arrested on corruption charge for a Sri Lankan
17:38airline transaction. And he has given an affidavit and he has informed the courts that the Bribery
17:46Commission DG in Sri Lanka forced him to enter a politician's name to the system, to his statement,
17:53and take the signature. So, we have nothing… It sounds like very South Asian. I won't go beyond
17:59that. This seems to happen. See, you should investigate on corruption. But you shouldn't
18:04do it with the political agenda. And they were claiming us, blaming us to have 18 billion dollars
18:09in Uganda. And they were talking about we having a Buckingham Palace in America. So, on political stage,
18:18campaigns, people come up with various allegations. But we are ready to face… As I said, I have told
18:23my government in Sri Lanka, if you need my statement or signature to go anywhere in the world and
18:29investigate all our illegal assets that we have, please feel free. I'm willing to assist you. But what
18:36happened now is to make sure that the lies they created during campaign, they want to prove it. So,
18:42they are going beyond their limits to prove that. And in fact, the southern part of India is seeing
18:49state elections in the next four weeks as such. What happens in Sri Lanka has ripple effects in the
18:54state of Tamil Nadu. Now there might be a government change or there might be pro-income. How do you
18:59see
18:59the state of Tamil Nadu going into polls and what are the relation that you have with the specific state?
19:04Well, I think Sri Lanka must re-strategize dealing with Tamil Nadu because now the war time has gone.
19:11It was long years ago. So it's time that Sri Lanka start a constructive dialogue. I mean, of course,
19:16we have a very strong bilateral relationship and people-to-people relationship with India and Delhi.
19:21But it's time our political parties, not only the government of Sri Lanka, but as political parties,
19:26that we engage with states in India. And especially with Tamil Nadu because there is sensitivity with the
19:31northern election in Sri Lanka or south elections in Tamil Nadu. And Tamil Nadu economy is growing at a very
19:37fast rate.
19:38In fact, there's a next factor that people talk about. It's Mr. Vijay entering the political scene.
19:44And I don't know if you have seen Vijay movies. What do you have to tell him? In fact, there
19:49are reports that
19:50there will offer from the NDA party to ask him to come to the alliance and join them. As a
19:55politician,
19:56closely watching the Tamil Nadu politics, how do you see Vijay's entry into politics?
20:00Well, if I tell him that I'm one of his fans and he's my favorite actor, it might go against
20:05for
20:05him in his elections. But I think it's good to see.
20:09You're saying Vijay is your favorite actor?
20:10He is my favorite actor in south part of the world and this part of the world. So
20:13he's a good actor. But he must also realize that politics is totally different from acting.
20:17And he has to face a real time script in politics, not as acting.
20:24You know, the reason I, it's very interesting, you're saying Vijay is your favorite actor.
20:30This actor, politician, Vijay has also called for India to retrieve Kachitigu.
20:37And India is insisting or Vijay says the island belongs to India. India has also been suggesting
20:43on more than one occasion that Sri Lanka has been arresting and beating up and detaining fishermen
20:51from India near Kachitigu. So do you believe Kachitigu at least deserves a dialogue or do you believe
20:59Kachitigu is Sri Lankan? See, Kachitigu is a sovereign part of Sri Lanka and it's part of Sri Lankan.
21:05It's part of Sri Lanka. It's part of Sri Lanka territory according to 1974
21:08agreement between Sri Lanka and India. That's 74. Should we review it?
21:11So it's up to the people and the government to decide on that, but not a state government.
21:16The dialogue should start from the center, if at all. And Indian fishing issue is totally different
21:20from Kachitigu. And I believe, if at all, if Tamil Nadu politicians are very serious
21:26about the relationship between Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu as a state, I think they must address the fishing
21:31issue first. And that is something very sensitive to Sri Lankan waters, Sri Lankan fishermen as well,
21:36because even Sri Lankan fishermen get beaten up because of that as to when it comes to their livelihood.
21:42And also Indian fishermen also suffer. If it's a question of national security for India,
21:49we understand. We understand the gravity of it and we are cooperating in that. But if it's a political
21:56question, which has, this statement is not the first time it has been made, it has been made by many
22:00politicians in South India for last so many years, ever since I remember. It's a, it's a, it's a decision
22:06to taken by the politicians.
22:10In conclusion, we just have a couple of minutes, Namal Rajpaksha. We haven't had a SARK meeting in more
22:18than a decade. Uh, and that's largely because of Pakistan, uh, and cross border terror emanating out
22:25of Pakistan. So I want to ask you very, very plainly, uh, do you believe that SARK has outlived its
22:32utility
22:33and we need to find a new kind of South Asia body, possibly minus Pakistan that can address some of
22:41these issues, whether it's the fishermen issue, whether it's an Iranian ship that is sunk of Indian
22:45waters, you cannot rely on SARK anymore. It's almost defunct. Do you believe it's time for a new kind of
22:52South Asian regional cooperation? Well, there are many regional cooperation already taking place and
22:57it's about understanding the modern context. Like, as I mentioned earlier, Colombo security conclave is
23:01something that we had to take seriously with Sri Lanka Maldives and India, especially when it comes to the
23:07Indian fishing issue, also the Indian Ocean MDA. Uh, but at the same time, yes, I think world already
23:16is changing. And we have to have a new approach to see how nations can work together to make sure
23:23that
23:24we address the interests of our own people. And this is what the countries like India or even Sri Lanka,
23:31Pakistan, we must understand whenever we take a decision based on geopolitics,
23:37it will have an impact on all of us. And Sri Lanka has been a victim for a long time.
23:41Has SARK outlived its utility, sir? Well, the purpose of SARK still remains.
23:45But whether it's practical or not, a question to be asked.
23:50Aga, last question.
23:51Yeah. In fact, uh, whenever we speak of Sri Lanka in, in terms of Indian perspective, uh, the Chinese
23:57factor also comes into place that you have given your port, in fact, for 99 year lease for commercial
24:02purpose, but India watches closely as to how Chinese is building infrastructure in Sri Lanka. Should
24:08India be worried of the Chinese influence in Sri Lanka? Well, not at all, to be honest, because we
24:14don't have any military bases in Sri Lanka ever since British left Sri Lankan ports and aviation in 1957,
24:19if I'm not mistaken. And we will not, we will not allow any military presence in any country to be
24:25present in Sri Lanka because we understand the gravity of it. And we do understand the security
24:30for India is important, especially in this part of the world. And there may be lapse of communication
24:36in the past, time to time. But this is something that we need to work together with India and
24:40regional partners, uh, to make sure that we build this trust and mutual understanding. Uh, but yes,
24:48China has invested in Sri Lanka and it's not our government who gave it to 99 years.
24:52We make sure they build it, but politicians take different decisions based on their government
24:56interest. Final question and a lighter question. You're a rugby player for your country,
25:01uh, but Sri Lanka's big sport remains cricket. You didn't do too well in the T20 World Cup. You're
25:07now going to get a new coach. Gary Kirsten's going to come and coach Sri Lanka.
25:12You mentioned that, uh, your favorite actor is Vijay. Who's your favorite Indian cricketer? You have
25:18a favorite Indian cricketer? Well, there are a few. Abhishek is one of them now. Abhishek Sharma.
25:23Abhishek Sharma is one of them. Who's going to be joining us at the India Today Conclave. Anyone else?
25:28Sanju is good, obviously, with last World Cup. Uh, but mostly I think... He's also going to be joining us.
25:35Okay. So, mostly Tenruka.
25:37Because that's the era we started watching cricket with Sanat Tenruka. That, that, that... Okay.
25:43Okay. So, uh, we hope that Sri Lankan cricket also rises. I hope my answer is not controversial,
25:49like Vijay being my favorite actor. Your answer that Vijay is your favorite actor
25:53is going to resonate across Tamil Nadu and get you into trouble in your country, not in ours. Well,
25:58my country, it's not, it's not the case. It's not a problem? It's not a problem. Actually,
26:02in fact, my father and myself are going to watch his movie. It might, it might be a problem for
26:05Vijay,
26:06in Tamil Nadu. That I don't know. That you don't. I think he's waiting for his next movie,
26:10Janana Aiken, which is not released yet. Okay. Let's leave it there. Namal Rajapaksha,
26:14as I said, you were the first politician from South Asia to speak out openly when that Iranian ship was
26:20sunk. And I think that required some element of political courage to speak out for what is most
26:27political, uh, and international observers believe was an act which was illegal and unethical. But I
26:34thank you very much for joining us here on the India Today Conclave. Thank you so much.
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