The Defence Cooperation agreement signed between India and Sri Lanka during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit has ignited a political storm, with several factions raising concerns over the lack of transparency surrounding the specifics of the pact.

Amidst growing speculation, veteran administrator Austin Fernando, who has served as Sri Lanka's Defence Secretary and Secretary to the President, offered his expert perspective on the controversy.

Fernando, who also served as Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to New Delhi, drew upon historical precedents regarding the disclosure of such agreements.

According to Fernando, criticisms levelled against the government for the absence of parliamentary sanction are "very unfair."

He cited past instances where significant agreements with defence implications were not subjected to parliamentary debate before their signing.

 "The Defence agreement, when people discuss it and when they say that there was no Parliamentary sanction, I think it is very unfair to criticise the government on that point because there have been instances where we have had various agreements signed between various people related to Defence also," Fernando stated.

He pointed to the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987 as an example, noting, "Now, for example, take the Rajiv Gandhi- J.R. Jayawardene Accord, which had some issues that were related to Defence. This was not discussed in the Parliament before it was signed. On the day it was signed, on July 29, 1987, the very same day that President Jayawardena invited the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) to come, there was no Parliamentary sanction, no discussion was taking place in July. I don't think there was even a discussion in the Cabinet for that type of thing to be done by President Jayawardena.”

He further went on to point out, “Then, if you look at TFA (Trade Facilitation Agreement), the ceasefire agreement signed between Prabakaran and Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe, at that time, no discussion was taking place in the party, but it was done."

 During a media briefing held in Colombo on April 5th, coinciding with Prime Minister Modi's visit, Indian External Affairs Ministry Secretary Vikram Misri provided some clarity on the Defence pact.

"The MOU is in itself an umbrella framework document that will make existing Defence cooperation initiatives more structured," Misri explained.

He outlined several areas of focus, including "activities related to, continuing and even intensifying the tradition of high-level visits between the two countries, more joint exercises, capacity building in various areas, exchanges in HADR-related operations, increasing port calls by naval units of both countries, and also to explore Defence industry cooperation between the two sides."

 Fernando observed that the majority of the elements mentioned by Secretary Misri already represent ongoing collaborative efforts between India and Sri Lanka.

He highlighted that discussions on Defence industry cooperation appear to be the primary novel aspect of the agreement.

 "One issue that has become, I think, a little bit of an itching situation, is because of the statement which is made by Misri, saying that there will be exploratory discussions on Defence in the scope range," Fernando commented.

He went on to point out, "Now, this exploratory discussion in diplomatic terms, he has to say, is a preliminary or informal exchange of ideas, often used to probe or explore possible solutions. And that doesn't mean that there is something which has been firmly done about it.”

When questioned about the potential ramifications of this Defence pact on Sri Lanka's relationship with China, Fernando offered a perspective rooted in the consistent diplomatic messaging from Sri Lankan leaders.

“All the presidents of this country, who have gone to affairs, especially to India, have been saying this. President Maithripala and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa did that. All these people have been saying that we will not do anything harmful to the security interests of India. The very same thing they have said in China. President Dissanayake, when he went there, said that we will not do anything to harm the Chinese-built interests. Therefore, I don't think China will have any problem regarding President Anura Kumara Dissanayake saying that we will not do anything harmful.”