Opinion: Dissanayake Has Settled Some Sticky Questions

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was in India earlier this week after assuming charge of the island nation in September. His Presidential election victory was followed by his party, the National People's Power (NPP), gaining absolute control of the 225-member Parliament in a historic win. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had visited Colombo less than a fortnight after Dissanayake's victory, becoming the first foreign dignitary to visit the island nation after the change of political guard, underlining India's desire for continuity in India-Sri Lanka ties.

By choosing India for his first overseas visit, Dissanayake has also signalled a resolve in Colombo to continue to invest in a strong partnership with New Delhi. There have been concerns about his affiliation with the traditionally anti-India Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) party and his visit was symbolically important to reassure New Delhi that his approach towards India would be based on mutual interests. During his visit, he was gracious in acknowledging India's role in providing economic assistance during Sri Lanka's financial meltdown and critical role in restructuring bilateral debt. He reiterated his nation's commitment to not allowing its territory to be used in “any manner” that is detrimental to India's interest and expressed optimism that “the cooperation with India will certainly flourish.”

India Remains A Resourceful Neighbour

New Delhi, in return, also underscored its continued commitment to a long-term sustainable partnership with Colombo based on the aspirations of the island nation. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted in the joint statement, India's bilateral projects in Sri Lanka are “always” based on Colombo's “development priorities”. The two nations will be working together in various areas such as housing, renewable energy, infrastructure, agriculture, dairy, fisheries, and digital identity projects. Digital public infrastructure is increasingly being seen as important for meeting Sri Lanka's development priorities and New Delhi can lend a hand by showcasing an Aadhaar-like identity and UPI payments interface. India's focus on building capacity in diverse sectors in its neighbouring nations continues to be its USP.

What has been interesting, however, is that security engagement between India and Sri Lanka is likely to grow as the two nations agreed to expedite the conclusion of a bilateral agreement on defence cooperation. This is to be achieved through joint exercises, joint maritime surveillance, and defence dialogue and exchanges. At a time of serious concern about China's growing footprint in the Indian Ocean, strong security ties with Sri Lanka are important for India's ability to pursue its policies unhindered in critical waterways in its periphery. Dissanayake's preference for a “free, open, safe and secure Indian Ocean Region (IOR)” is in sync with Indian sensitivities about the region and its strategic evolution.

Tackling Sensitive Issues

While political stability in Sri Lanka and pragmatism inherent in the new government's policy choices bodes well for Delhi-Colombo ties, there is no dearth of sensitive issues that must be taken seriously. Prime Minister Modi tackled the issue of Sri Lanka's Tamil minorities deftly by avoiding an explicit mention of the 13th amendment to the country's constitution and merely underlined India's expectation that “Sri Lanka will fully implement the [Sri Lankan] Constitution and fulfil its commitment to hold provincial council elections".

The two leaders also emphasised that the issue of alleged encroachment by the fishermen of India and Sri Lanka into each other's waters would be addressed in a humanitarian manner. This is a key issue for both sides as it tends to vitiate bilateral ties at regular intervals given its emotive nature.

Balancing China And India

The visit of the Sri Lankan President and its outcome has done a lot to assuage concerns in India about the new political dispensation in Colombo. Once again, it is clear that India's neighbours tend to balance China and India in their external engagements and are aware of the costs that come with tilting to one side or the other. In Sri Lanka's case, New Delhi's proactive outreach during the time of financial crisis has generated goodwill for India across the political spectrum and underscored the long-term nature of India's engagement. This does not in any way mean that the China factor will no longer be relevant. There are reports that Dissanayake will soon be visiting China on an official visit.

But consistency in India's approach toward Sri Lanka means that New Delhi retains an important role in the island nation's foreign policy matrix and there is an understanding of India's red lines as well. It is now up to the two sides to continue to remain engaged as the Indian Ocean region remains a volatile maritime geography with major power contestation and the lack of an effective institutional architecture providing the backdrop. Without a robust Delhi-Colombo partnership, this volatility is only likely to grow.

(Harsh V Pant is Vice President for Studies at Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author