Dec 16, 2024 08:07 IST First published on: Dec 16, 2024 at 08:07 IST
The newly elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) is on his maiden visit abroad, to India. The visit will conclude on December 17. This is in line with his predecessors who invariably visited India as the first port of call after getting elected. India will no doubt roll out the red carpet to President Dissanayake as testimony of its neighbourhood-first policy. The visit is significant for a variety of reasons, not least because it comes against the backdrop of regional turbulence and global incertitude.
Sri Lanka has shown remarkable adherence to its democratic roots and to its pluralistic polity. It is easy to forget that as recently as 2022 the “Aragalaya” protests overwhelmed Sri Lanka. At the time, Sri Lanka’s future looked uncertain, if not bleak. The people of Sri Lanka deserve enormous credit for bouncing back in dramatic fashion and giving the lie to doomsdayers. Comparisons are now routine between what happened in Sri Lanka and what did not in Bangladesh.
The election of AKD who belongs to the JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna), a Marxist-Leninist party with a violent past, is even more impressive. After all, the JVP carried out insurrections twice against the government of the day, first in 1971 and second in 1989, which resulted in hundreds of people dying in Sri Lanka. The party in the past was also viscerally opposed to India and the peacekeeping force (IPKF) that we sent to the island in the Eighties. For such a party to reinvent itself, fight the presidential election in September and win it handsomely is no mean achievement. As if that were not enough, the coalition he heads — the National People’s Power (NPP) — also swept the parliamentary election in November, securing a thumping two-thirds majority. The JVP, once considered a fringe party, has come full circle and a good part of the credit should go to AKD.
Two things about the political ascent of AKD and NPP are noteworthy. One, his coalition NPP received tremendous support from the Tamils of Sri Lanka. This is significant since it may represent the coming of age of the Tamil electorate which has been disillusioned with Tamil political parties. Two, the victory of AKD and his coalition is also a rejection by the Sinhalese electorate of the mainstream political parties such as the UNP and the SLFPP. AKD, in that sense, has completely reconfigured the political landscape in Sri Lanka. That said, the challenges facing AKD and his government are daunting. People’s expectations are sky-high, so AKD knows he has to deliver and do so without delay. AKD has been tempering people’s expectations by saying he does not have a magic wand and that he will need time and the cooperation of all concerned to deliver results.
It is useful to recall that India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was the first high-level foreign dignitary to call on AKD in Colombo in October, less than a fortnight after the latter’s remarkable victory. Many people may not be aware, but Jaishankar served as First Secretary (Political) in the late Eighties in Colombo and has a profound understanding of the island’s complex politics. He carried a personal invitation from PM Modi to AKD and this was crucial in paving the way for AKD to make his maiden international trip to Delhi. During the visit, Jaishankar conveyed to the new Sri Lankan government that payments for seven completed Line of Credit projects amounting to $ 20 million could be converted to grants. This assumes significance, given Sri Lanka’s pre-emptive sovereign default in 2022 on all its foreign debt amounting to $ 50 billion.
AKD’s visit will provide an opportunity for PM Modi to establish a personal rapport with AKD. PM may also be expected to convey to the Sri Lankan leader India’s firm commitment to the financial stability and economic development of Sri Lanka. The best long-term bet for both countries is for Sri Lanka to secure regional economic integration with South India. On the ethnic issue, India supports the aspirations of all communities in Sri Lanka including Tamils, even while maintaining the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. In return, the Sri Lankan leader can reaffirm that its territory would never be allowed to be used in a manner inimical to India’s security interests. The issue of fishermen from Tamil Nadu straying into Sri Lankan waters is a perennial problem which needs mutual understanding. Infrastructure projects such as the Kankesanthurai Port and the Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm may be reviewed for progress. While the north-western and northeastern flanks of India attract maximum attention, the southern flank is just as important, given the huge maritime stakes that India has in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka is the lynchpin for India’s maritime security within the framework of its SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) policy.
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As India rolls out the red carpet for AKD, not only is New Delhi celebrating Sri Lanka’s remarkable democratic comeback but also reaffirming India’s neighbourhood-first policy. It is said a country cannot choose its neighbours; it can only choose its friends. India is lucky to have Sri Lanka as both its neighbour and friend.
The writer is former Indian ambassador to France and currently dean/professor at OP Jindal Global University. He was joint secretary (BSM) and India’s deputy high commissioner to Sri Lanka in the late Nineties. Views are personal
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