Sri Lanka, India leaders eye new era in troubled ties

Sri Lanka, India 
leaders eye new era 
in troubled ties
AFP By Abhaya Srivastava  February 16, 2015 1:29 PM

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) shakes hands with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena after a signing agreement ceremony in New Delhi on February 16, 2015

The leaders of India and Sri Lanka vowed Monday to strengthen their relationship after a period of tensions and declared their countries' fortunes were intertwined as they held their first summit in New Delhi.

After signing a deal on nuclear safety, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the new Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena that there was "unprecedented opportunity" to take ties to a new level.

China's growing influence in Sri Lanka over recent years has been a source of disquiet in India, which has long regarded the neighbouring island as within its natural sphere of influence.

But Sirisena's victory over long-time ruler Mahinda Rajapakse in elections last month has been seized on by both sides as a chance for a reboot in relations, fuelled by the new president's decision to make India his first port of call.

"It's an honour that you have chosen India as your first foreign destination," Modi said after hosting talks with Sirisena, who is barely five weeks into his tenure.

"India is the closest neighbour and friend of Sri Lanka. Our goodwill and support will always be with you. I believe that our destinies are interlinked."

"We share very strong relations that span several thousand years," said Sirisena, whose country lies at the southern tip of India.

"The courtesy extended to us on this visit has been very great... this is my first official visit to India and it has been very fruitful.

"I can clearly say that our bilateral relations have been further strengthened."

Under the nuclear deal, India will provide safety training to Sri Lanka where there have been longstanding concerns about how to handle the fallout from a disaster involving the Kundankulam nuclear plant in India's southern Tamil Nadu state.

Official sources in Sri Lanka said the cooperation deal was aimed at training local scientists and did not involve a power generation programme.

"We are not talking about setting up nuclear reactors or anything like that," a foreign ministry source in Colombo told AFP. "We haven't even thought of feasibility studies (on nuclear energy), this is about training our people."

India has long considered Sri Lanka to be within its strategic sphere of influence, sending troops to the island in 1987 to enforce a peace accord it brokered between Colombo and separatist Tamil rebels.

But under Rajapakse, China ploughed huge sums into Sri Lankan infrastructure projects, becoming its biggest foreign financier and enjoying significant political and even military influence.

India was reported to have been furious at the brief appearance last year of two Chinese submarines in Sri Lankan waters.

China has been accused of seeking to develop facilities around the Indian Ocean in a "string of pearls" strategy to counter the rise of its Asian rival India and secure its own economic interests.

While neither leader mentioned China by name, the announcements of memoranda of understanding between the south Asian neighbours on issues such as defence cooperation and energy will have been noted in Beijing.

Modi said he and Sirisena had "agreed to expand our defence and security cooperation" as well as work together on maritime security.

Analysts say the visit's main significance is as a signal of intent from Sri Lanka.

"This visit is very significant because it could very well be a turning point," K.G. Suresh, senior fellow at the Delhi-based Vivekananda International Foundation think-tank, told AFP.

"Suspicions that earlier marked India-Sri Lanka relations could now give way to more confidence and strong ties between the two."

Sirisena is keen to attract greater Indian investment in Sri Lanka, which said last week it was seeking an international bailout of more than $4.0 billion.

China funded much of Sri Lanka's post-war infrastructure under the Rajapakse administration but the new government has said the interest rates charged on the loans averaged between five and seven percent -- much higher than the market rate.

Sirisena is being accompanied by several ministers, including Reconstruction Minister D.M. Swaminathan, who said the government was keen to secure India's support for ethnic reconciliation following the island's decade-long ethnic war that ended in 2009.

Sri Lanka's minority Tamils share close cultural ties with the Tamils in Tamil Nadu.

On Tuesday Sirisena will travel to the Buddhist pilgrimage site of Bodh Gaya and a Hindu temple in Tirupati further south before leaving the next day.