When Sri Lanka elected Anura Kumara Dissanayake as President in September this
year, many observers expressed apprehensions about his anticipated behavior, given
his party’s historical opposition towards India. As neighbors who have historically
shared geographical, civilizational, cultural, and economic affinity, India and Sri
Lanka are entangled with each other, with their relationship having gone through
phases of cooperation, suspicion, and complication. The September election was a
momentous affair as Sri Lankans voted for the first time after the 2022 economic
catastrophe, still reeling under its aftermath in the form of debilitating inflation,
poverty, and unemployment. Dissanayake, who is popularly known as AKD, of the
National People’s Power (NPP) alliance, promising a radical departure from the
existing system of political dynasties, became the first Marxist leader in the island-
nation’s history to ascend to the office of President. Now, after having secured a
landslide victory for the NPP in the parliamentary elections held in November, the
President is set to make his first foreign visit, and the country he has chosen for it is
India.
Even before becoming President, AKD visited New Delhi in February this year upon
being invited by the Indian government and met the External Affairs Minister and
National Security Advisor. Moreover, the EAM S Jaishankar was the first foreign
dignitary to visit AKD after his election in early October, and extended invitation to
him to return the visit. Therefore, the stage was already set, and now, President
Dissanayake is scheduled to visit India, along with Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath
and Deputy Minister of Finance Anil Jayantha Fernando, from December 15-17 and
meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu.
Given the historical opposition to India by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP),
which is the party that President Dissanayake belongs to, the current cordiality and
strengthening of relations becomes extraordinary. The founding leader of the JVP, Rohana Wijeweera vociferously criticized what he perceived as ‘Indian expansionism’
in Sri Lanka in the 1980s, as the party opposed the 1987 India-Sri Lanka Peace
Accord. As a socialist nationalist party, the JVP interpreted India’s involvement in Sri
Lanka during the armed rebellion over Tamil autonomy, especially the deployment of
the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), as a threat to Sri Lankan sovereignty. This
antagonism towards India also extended to proposals of enhanced bilateral
cooperation such as the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
Recently, in the lead-up to the presidential elections, AKD pledged to cancel the
construction of 484-MW wind power projects in Mannar and Pooneryn by India’s
Adani Group over concerns regarding Sri Lanka’s energy sovereignty, environmental
fears, and transparency. Although the annulment of the project seems unlikely, the
Dissanayake government may still seek fundamental alterations related to the project’s
operational and financial design
However, despite the JVP’s traditional antagonism towards India and some hostile
stances by AKD, the President, even before the announcement of this visit, had amply
expressed his desire to substantively engage with India. As a small nation situated at a
geo-strategically significant location in the Indian Ocean, Sri Lanka becomes the site
of contestation between regional heavyweights for influence. The nearly 66,000 sq km
island is a crucial component of the Belt and Road Initiative by China, which is also
the former’s biggest bilateral creditor. When Sri Lanka plunged into its economic
calamity after defaulting on its foreign debt of $46.9 billion in 2022, it owed more
than half of it to China. Observers have raised serious concerns regarding the
economically vulnerable island leasing the Hambantota Port for 99 years to a Chinese
firm in 2017 after failing to service its debt to the latter. Moreover, some of the
Chinese projects have attracted criticism for being ‘white elephants’ or economic
liabilities for the already-fraught nation. Within this context, it is significant that the
new Sri Lankan President, who some commentators had labelled as pro-China,
emphatically declared that he won’t let his country be “sandwiched” between China
and India, and will go for a more balanced, non-aligned foreign policy suited to a
multipolar world.
In a similar vein, he has stated that he will ensure that Sri Lanka’s land, sea, and
airspace are not used to threaten India’s and regional security and stability. For India,
which has had anxieties related to the movement of Chinese ships around the island,
this is certainly a welcome assurance. Moreover, President Dissanayake praised
India’s timely contribution to Sri Lanka’s economic recovery, and remarked, “We
heavily rely on medicines imported from India, and during the last economic crisis,
survival was impossible without the food aid provided by India”.
Therefore, the new Sri Lankan President hopes to deepen and expand engagement
with India, especially in terms of trade, energy cooperation, and maritime security, to
build the country back up from the economic collapse it faced not too long ago. For
India, for whom Sri Lanka holds immense importance, particularly considering its
‘Neighbourhood First’ and SAGAR policies, President Dissanayake’s warm,
pragmatic, and positive overtures instil hope for a more meaningful upgrade in India. Srilanka ties.
Ruchi Sharma, PhD Scholar, Centre for West Asian Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University
