Thousands of US Marines to Lanka, Maldives relief work upset India – how long will US Marines stay in Indonesia, Lanka and Maldives?
Balaji Reddy, Special Correspondent
January 03, 2005

According to sources India is not very happy about Sri Lanka’s decision to allow US Marines to land in Sri Lanka for Tsunami relief work. India is also not happy about American Marines in Maldives.

The decision of the Sri Lankan government to accept 1,500 US Marines as part of the American contribution to tsunami relief work in the island, without taking India into confidence, has "greatly angered" India, says the Tamil daily Sudar Oli.

Though official Indian communiqué is silent about the discontent, privately India is letting the Lanka authorities know about its feelings. In addition, American Military is also in Sumatra and Indonesia. Skeptics are looking how long the American military stay in these countries after relief and reconstruction is complete.

The United States is to send 1,500 Marines to Sri Lanka within a week, to do relief and reconstruction work in the tsunami-hit parts of the island country.

According to US Ambassador, Jeffrey Lunstead, approximately 200 Marines will land in Sri Lanka with full logistics to help the Sri Lanka authorities in relief and reconstruction work.

US Pacific Command would be deploying five hovercrafts, 20 helicopters and a C-130 aircraft, apart from a ship which would be the logistics nerve center and a helicopter platform. The hovercrafts would be able to carry heavy equipment.

The US government has made an "initial" allocation of $2.6 million for relief and reconstruction in tsunami-hit Sri Lanka. It could go up by January 15, after the Sri Lankan government had made a final estimate of the damage and the reconstruction requirements.

The Marines will be working with the Sri Lankan Government and not encroach the LTTE controlled areas. The aid will reach the LTTE areas through the Sri Lanka Governmnet agencies.

The Ambassador further said that the US would give material for immediate relief like plastic sheets, water cans etc. But basically, it would give financial aid to known and tested NGOs and government agencies to make local purchases of relief material. This would help the local economy, he said. but the NGOs work would be monitored.

According to the figures with the US Embassy here, 260 US citizens were in Sri Lanka on December 26, the day of the disaster. Out of these, 7 were killed and 80 are unaccounted for till date.

The US is sending a team to Maldives on Saturday, where 18 to 19 islands had been flattened by the tsunami.

Some in Sri Lanka are also not happy in allowing the American Marines in Sri Lanka and Maldives. The world may be watching what the American Administration do after the reconstruction and relief is complete and how the American Marines leave these countries.

The Colombo-based paper, which is believed to reflect the LTTE's view, said in a front page story on Monday, that India was very angry that Sri Lanka had disregarded India's regional power status. Still, it went ahead and invited US troops into its backyard, without giving prior information or getting its nod first. The paper pointed that India had rushed to Sri Lanka's aid on the very first day of the disaster, even though the tsunami had ravaged India itself in a big way. India had sent five ships and six helicopters. INS Sandayak and INS Sukanya were in Trincomalee and INS Sarada and INS Sutlej were in Galle. INS Jamuna, with a 45 bed hospital had also been sent, the paper noted. Sudar Oli further said that about 1,000 Indian personnel were doing relief work in the island. India had also come forward to give a financial assistance of SLRs 260 crores. "It is said that India sent its relief workers to Sri Lanka, even before it started helping its own tsunami-stricken people, because it did not want other powers to get a foothold in its backyard," the paper observed. "India thinks that while taking its help, Sri Lanka had secretly conducted negotiations with the US and got its troops in," Sudar Oli says. The paper quotes unnamed sources to say that the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar had taken the initiative to sew up the deal with the Americans. According to Sudar Oli, the story in the south Sri Lankan media that the US troops were coming with the consent of India is not correct. " India thinks that by allowing the entry of outside forces into the region, Sri Lanka is creating difficulties. India is expected to show its displeasure about this soon," the paper concluded.