Between the lines in Indo-Lanka relations

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The idea that only a certain group of Sri Lankan leaders could address the international community was dispelled by president Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s Indian visit, Ramindu Perera, senior lecturer at the Open University Law Faculty and a member of the Federation of University Teachers Association (FUTA) said.

Perera told the Sunday Island the shattering of this idea is not only good for the National People’s Power (NPP), but also for other political leaders who were not a part of a very small clique that dominated the positions that needed interaction with foreign governments.

“Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), the main constituent of the NPP had an antagonistic relationship with India in the 1980s and a lot of people were curious how the NPP would interact with India and vice versa. However, now it’s obvious that states look beyond these things to further national interests,” he said.

Perera said that India is facing diplomatic challenges in the region. India’s relationship with Maldives, Bangladesh and Nepal are tense these days. “Thus, India also needs

Sri Lanka. India needs to be sure that Sri Lanka too will not go against its geopolitical objectives,” he said. This might also be a reason why there was more openness to discuss the fishermen’s issue during the president’ s visit, he said.

President Dissanayake also paid a lot of attention in securing Indian guarantees that they will support Sri Lanka joining BRICS. Sri Lanka has formally begun the application process to join BRICS and the New Development Bank in October 2024.

“India has the power to influence international opinion. BRICS has currently stopped accepting new members. India has said they will support Sri Lanka’s membership when BRICS starts accepting new members again,” he said.

Commenting on the fact that the joint statement which followed President Dissanayake’s visit to India didn’t specifically mention the 13th amendment to the constitution, Perera said Prime Minister Modi didn’t raise the issue when Dissanayake visited India earlier this year as well.

“It is also obvious that India can’t use the same methods that they used in the past to influence Sri Lankan governments with regards to the 13th amendment to the constitution. Unlike previous governments, the NPP has also won the Tamil vote,” he said.

However, Sri Lanka needs to understand that India’s priority is its national interests and that the government must be careful in avoiding some proposals that will be detrimental to Sri Lanka’s national interest.

“For most of the proposals to have physical connectivity with India, the Sri Lankans have only agreed to ‘continue consideration. When we read between the lines it is obvious that the government’s strategy is to buy time with regards to Indian proposals that are detrimental to us,” he said.