Dec 17, 2024 09:12 PM IST
Sri Lankan President Dissanayake assured Modi that Sri Lanka won’t host anti-India activities, emphasizing India’s support amid China’s growing influence.
It is significant that Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake used his first meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convey an assurance that his government will not allow Sri Lankan soil to be used against Indian interests. It is also significant that, at a time when the leaders of Nepal and the Maldives have moved away from the convention of travelling first to India after assuming office, Dissanayake chose India for his first foreign trip. In some ways, this is the result of India’s outreach to Dissanayake and his Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party in the months preceding the presidential and general elections in Sri Lanka, when it became evident that the political tide was turning in the island nation. Dissanayake also conveyed Sri Lanka’s appreciation for the economic aid worth nearly $4 billion that was provided by India during the unprecedented economic crisis two years ago, and New Delhi, for its part, pledged to continue supporting Colombo’s economic stabilisation efforts and announced several grantsto further ease the pressure on the Sri Lankan government. The economic sphere is one area where the Indian government’s timely assistance has gone down well with the Sri Lankan leadership, especially as China’s response — both in terms of actual assistance and debt restructuring — has been found to be wanting.
India also used Dissanayake’s visit to flag two issues that are of importance to New Delhi — the activities of Chinese surveillance vessels in regional waters and their berthing in Sri Lankan ports, and the need to address the aspirations of the island’s Tamil minority, especially their demand for meaningful devolution of power through the implementation of constitutional provisions and the holding of local elections. Colombo’s responses on both indicated that this is a work in progress, though Indian officials pointed to Dissanayake’s acknowledgment of the support he garnered in Tamil-dominated areas and the attendant expectation that he would address the aspirations of Tamils. India also unveiled several measures to ramp up security and strategic cooperation, including the supply of military platforms and cooperation in hydrography and maritime security — steps that appear clearly aimed at countering Chinese influence.
The optics of the visit were encouraging and should set at rest fears that Dissanayake and JVP, which was hostile to India in the past, could pivot Colombo closer to Beijing. Dissanayake will next travel to China and that visit will be keenly watched in New Delhi.
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