Government doctors have joined forces with their ayurvedic counterparts to launch a fresh battle against the proposed India-Lanka Economic and Technological Cooperative Agreement (ETCA). Addressing a press conference at the auditorium of the Organisation for Professional Associations in Colombo, President of the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) Dr. Anuruddha Padeniya said a group of intellectuals who drafted the ETCA with the blessings of the government had sought to subjugate Sri Lanka’s national interests to that of India. Dr. Padeniya said: "India is waging an economic war to become a regional super power. We have seen powerful nations wage wars against others and colonise them in the past. At present, there are no such wars. They have given way to economic warfare. India is engaged in an economic war against countries in the region." The best example, Dr. Padeniya said, was Nepal, which had entered into several trade agreements with India. "When India got Nepal to sign those pacts, Indian intelligence service Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was working overtime to bribe Nepali intellectuals, politicians and even media men to praise those agreements and to describe them as panacea for Nepal’s economic ills. Now, Nepal has become a colony of India which controls her through economic and trade agreements. "India entered into a trade agreement with Sri Lanka in 1998. Today, we see that agreement is unfavourable to our country. Not a single Lankan business had gained anything from that agreement. The intellectuals who promoted that agreement are leading comfortable lives with the monies they had received for services rendered. "India is promoting ETCA again. A group of so-called intellectuals are praising it. Their objective is to hand over our service sector to India, which has an unemployment problem. We have to defeat these sinister moves. "Many countries have adopted national policies on international trade agreements. Even some African nations have such policies. Sri Lanka, too, must formulate a national policy on international trade agreements. If we have such a policy then we can devise a mechanism to take action when such agreements turn out to be disadvantageous to us. "Our courts have no power when bilateral agreements go wrong. The only process is arbitration. In the process of arbitration always the powerful party calls the shots. In an arbitration process with India we don’t stand a chance." Dr Padeniya said the GMOA and Government Ayurvedic Medical Officer’s Association would launch a campaign to collect 1,000,000 signatures to a petition addressed to President Maithripala Sirisena to stress that need for formulating a national policy on international trade agreements. President of the Government Ayurvedic Medical Officer’s Association, Dr. P. Hewagamage said that collecting signatures could be completed in two weeks. Facilities were provided to sign the petition online, too, he said, adding that the petition would be available at the GMOA official web www.gmoa.lk. The process of collecting signatures commenced with all participants placing their signatures on the petition. Secretary of the GMOA Dr Nalinda Herath, Media Spokesman Dr Samantha Ananda also addressed the media.