India’s Sri Lanka Policy

A significant achievement of Modi’s Sri Lanka policy has been his ability to inject pragmatism into the relationship and deter excessive domestic pressures. While calls for reconciliation, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, and solving the fishermen’s arrests continue, the Modi Government has focused on improving overall relations. This is for two reasons: one, the increasing Chinese presence and influence in Sri Lanka has compelled India to rethink its strategy, and two, a majority in the Parliament has offered the Government the flexibility to reach out to the Sri Lankan leadership, cater to the country’s needs, and increase cooperation. To testify to this commitment, in 2015, Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Sri Lanka in 28 years, and his stopover to Jaffna marked the first ever visit by an Indian Premier to the war affected region. This has set a precedent for several high level bilateral visits between both the countries. Development cooperation has seen a significant uptick in the last decade, with India’s overall development cooperation portfolio accounting for United States Dollars ($) 5 billion. In addition to inheriting previous commitments, the Modi Government has pushed for new people-centric and infrastructure-oriented projects. The war-affected north of the country has seen India develop rail links and infrastructure, a stadium, and an international airport. The Modi Government is also involved in water supply projects, the construction of hospitals, and financial and technical assistance for the ambulance service system that functions throughout the country. The latter has seen remarkable success by attending to 8.2 million calls and 1.9 million medical emergencies. In the last decade, India has built nearly 60,000 houses for the Tamil community in the north, east, and central Sri Lanka. India has also continued to demonstrate itself as the first responder. Besides offering relief for floods and droughts, Modi was the first world leader to visit the country following the Easter blasts of 2019 and pledged $ 50 million to counter terror related challenges. During Covid-19, India opened a travel bubble facility, deployed an Army team to assist the country, and offered medical supplies and vaccines. Between 2015 and 2020, New Delhi delivered multiple currency swaps and a $ 400 million line of credit. The onset of the economic crisis saw India offer $ 4.5 billion worth of assistance to Sri Lanka via credit lines, grants, emergency supplies, currency swaps, investments, and modernisation. There has been a significant push for connectivity in energy, ports, trade, and maritime security, especially following the economic crisis. This will help Sri Lanka’s economy to recover and be resilient, and on the other hand, it offers an opportunity for India to increase its economic ties while also pushing back against China. On energy connectivity, India is exploring renewable energy projects in Sampur, Mannar, and Pooneryn. There are discussions to connect Sri Lanka to India through energy grids and bi-directional oil pipelines and jointly develop oil tank farms in Trincomalee. On ports, the Adani group is investing in the West Container Terminal (WCT) of the Colombo Port, and an Indian firm will be managing the Mattala Airport in a joint venture. On maritime security, India is offering a floating dock facility, a Dornier aircraft, and a maritime rescue coordination centre. There are also ongoing negotiations to connect India and Sri Lanka through a land bridge and implement the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement (ETCA).