Sri Lankan President says his land won’t ‘be used against’ India

NEW DELHI/COLOMBO — Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake held extensive talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday during his trip to India, his first overseas foray since assuming office in September.

Dissanayake’s visit is being keenly observed by analysts, who see India and China vying for influence in strategically located island nation.

“This visit is creating a new momentum and energy in our relations,” Modi said during a joint media appearance with Dissanayake after their meeting, adding that they have adopted a “a futuristic vision” for their relations. “We have emphasized investment-led growth and connectivity in our economic partnership and decided that physical, digital and energy connectivity will be an important pillar of our partnership,” Modi said.

The two countries will work on connecting their electricity grids and setting up a multiproduct petroleum pipeline between the two countries. India will supply liquified natural gas to power plants in Sri Lanka.

Modi said that India has so far provided $5 billion in lines of credit and grant assistance to Sri Lanka. Alongside housing, renewable energy and infrastructure, India will also cooperate in the development of agriculture, dairy and fisheries in Sri Lanka, he added.

“We both fully agree that our security interests are linked,” Modi said, adding that the two leaders have decided to conclude a defense cooperation agreement at an early date.

“We believe that the Colombo Security Conclave (a regional grouping) is an important platform for regional peace, security and development,” he said. “Under this, cooperation will be increased in the areas of maritime security, counterterrorism, cybersecurity — in the fight against smuggling and organized crime, [and to provide] humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.”

For his part, Dissanayake said his visit has paved the way for deeper cooperation between the two countries, and added that during his talks with Modi the two leaders comprehensively reviewed bilateral ties and discussed areas they can look at to advance cooperation between the neighboring countries.

“We faced an unprecedented economic crisis [in the recent past] and India supported us immensely to come out of that. It has also helped us … in the debt restructuring process.”

He said he also assured Modi, whom he invited to visit Sri Lanka, “that we will not allow our land to be used in any way in a manner that is detrimental to the interest of India.”

Sri Lanka was seen as becoming more pro-China during the administration of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and India became increasingly wary when Chinese oceanographic research ships docked in Sri Lanka in 2022.

The two countries said in a joint statement that “both leaders agreed to jointly pursue strengthening regional maritime security, both bilaterally and through existing regional frameworks,” recognizing their shared maritime security interests in the Indian Ocean region.

Before his visit to India, Dissanayake had been tightlipped about his government’s foreign policy since he won the presidential election in September and his party emerged victorious in the general elections in November. This created concerns among the diplomatic community in Colombo, given that both China and India were courting him.

Envoys from Western and Asian missions told Nikkei Asia that Dissanayake’s official visit to India has, as a result, acquired added significance. “The visit to India will at least end his silence and provide signs of his government’s foreign policy direction,” said one Asian diplomat.

The importance of Sri Lanka’s relationship with India has not been lost on the new president, however, since his decision to visit New Delhi before traveling to Beijing in early 2025 is a continuation of the island’s traditional diplomacy. It comes as India has faced a chill from its other smaller South Asian neighbors over the past year: The leaders of the Maldives and Nepal both elected to make China their first foreign stops.

Diplomatic observers in Colombo also point to ongoing tensions between India and Bangladesh following the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as another reason that Dissanayake’s visit has more weight, as it underscores that ties between Sri Lanka and India “are smooth and not rocky, like in the rest of the region.”

Dissanayake appreciated the political boost he got following an Indian invitation to visit New Delhi early in 2024, when he was still an opposition parliamentarian. But that has not translated to an overt tilt toward India, given that Dissanayake’s left-leaning National People’s Power party has as its largest constituent a party with Marxist and revolutionary antecedents, and ties with the Chinese Communist Party.

The electoral landslide Dissanayke’s NPP secured during the November general elections places his administration on a firm footing that translates to political stability and policy consistency, said George Cooke, executive director of the Regional Center for Strategic Studies, a Colombo-based think tank.

“Foreign governments will be more confident working with such a stable NPP administration, and it will be difficult for it to be exploited by geopolitical powers,” Cooke added. “It is very unlikely that Dissanayale will tilt toward China at the expense of India.”

source : asia.nikkei