Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake met India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Droupadi Murmu in New Delhi on Monday to bolster ties between the neighboring countries.
Dissanayake said India’s economic support is critical in realizing his vision of a prosperous Sri Lanka, as the island nation emerges from the worst economic crisis in its independent history.
“Our conversations focused on strengthening Indo-Sri Lanka economic cooperation, enhancing investment opportunities, fostering regional security, and advancing key sectors such as tourism and energy,” Dissanayake, who is popularly known as AKD, said in a statement.
“These engagements reaffirm the commitment to deepening the partnership between our two nations.”
New Delhi’s support amid geopolitical tensions
Modi announced on Monday that India plans to supply liquefied natural gas to Sri Lanka’s power plants and will work on connecting the power grids of the two countries.
Many analysts expect AKD’s government to come under pressure amid growing geopolitical competition, especially as India and China vie for influence in the region.
Srikanth Kondapalli, an expert on China studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that Dissanayake’s move to prioritize India as a strategic partner is influenced by their shared geographical proximity. India has long shared close political, cultural, economic and military ties to Sri Lanka.
“Unlike Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who broke with the usual practice of making India the first destination in the neighborhood, AKD’s strategy aligns with India’s interests in promoting stability and democratic governance,” Kondapalli told DW.
Sri Lanka’s strategic shift
Earlier this month, Nepal’s Oli, who was appointed prime minister in July, went on a four-day trip to Beijing to expand cooperation on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a massive infrastructure plan that aims to smooth Chinese trade links with dozens of countries.
“This is also informed [by] the much-needed assistance of nearly $4 billion (€3.8 billion) that India extended after Sri Lanka’s meltdown in 2022 and the failure of China to bail out Colombo,” he added, referring to the country’s 2022 economic crisis.
Kondapalli noted that China’s aggressive maritime activities and alleged predatory fishing operations in the Indian Ocean have raised concerns for Sri Lanka.
“The loss of Hambantota port for 99 years and extra-constitutional provisions on Colombo’s port project to China has sapped Sri Lanka,” said Kondapalli.
The port of Hambantota has been a Chinese-run facility since 2017, when Sri Lanka and China signed a 99-year lease after Colombo struggled to repay debt from the port’s construction.
“Dissanayake is righting the wrongs done by his predecessors who provided unprecedented space for China and is resetting relations with India,” Kondapalli added.
Relations with China under scrutiny
As Sri Lanka comes to terms with its economic realities and seeks to redefine its relationship with its influential neighbors, it faces critical decisions that will shape its economic future and sovereignty.
Dissanayake’s visit to New Delhi is crucial for setting the tone of the island nation’s foreign policy, especially considering his upcoming trip to China planned for early 2025.
“Sri Lanka has indeed decided to balance India and China and Dissanayake’s government will be keen to show some gains while also appearing even-handed,” Anil Wadhwa, a former Indian diplomat, told DW.
“The Chinese military presence will, however, continue to grow with the ships equipped with radars and sonography equipment now paying regular visits to Sri Lankan ports,” he added.