Sri Lanka and India on a transformative path: President

 Sri Lanka and India on a transformative path: President AKD

FT lk Monday, 7 April 2025

President Anura Kumara Disanayake 

---

Statement by the President to the media on Saturday during the joint press conference on the occasion of the State visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Sri Lanka.

I warmly welcome the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, and the distinguished delegation, as the first Head of State to visit Sri Lanka since the formation of our Government. I consider it as a historic occasion to recognise the achievements of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, who assumed office with a strong public mandate to transform the political culture and overcome long-standing prejudices that had hindered his country’s progress toward becoming a modern, developed nation.

A testament to enduring bonds between Sri Lanka and India

This visit reflects the deep-rooted closeness and friendship that have existed between Sri Lanka and India for ages. It is worth noting that the bond between our two countries separated by a narrow stretch of ocean less than 50 km wide, is even closer than this physical proximity suggests.

India, a land of rich diversity, has made significant contributions to the world’s cultural and spiritual heritage throughout history, and it continues to play a prominent role on the global stage today.

We have witnessed India’s remarkable rise and success. We sincerely applaud the way India has positioned itself not only as a regional power but also as a global leader. It is important to emphasise that our admiration is genuine and heartfelt. Like India, Sri Lanka firmly believes in the potential of South Asia to rise and shine on the world stage, a goal that we must strive to achieve together.

A partnership that spans millennia

Sri Lanka and India share far more than geographical proximity. We are neighbours bound by deep historical, religious, and cultural ties that span over two thousand five hundred years. Our enduring relationship that has withstood the test of time is founded on shared values, mutual respect, and common aspirations. As civilizational partners, Sri Lanka and India have grown close across every sphere, including history, language, religion, ethics, art, culture, architecture, and beyond, reflecting the richness and dynamism of our two nations.

One of the closest and most enduring examples of friendship that we fondly recall is India’s gesture during the 1996 Cricket World Cup, when India joined Sri Lanka in an exhibition match after two teams declined to tour our country due to security concerns. We take this opportunity to once again express our heartfelt gratitude for that act of solidarity.

Sri Lanka’s foreign policy and bilateral commitment

Sri Lanka’s foreign policy is firmly guided by national interests, with a focus on promoting peace and respecting the sovereignty of all nations, principles that form the foundation of our diplomatic roadmap. Just prior to this event, Prime Minister Modi and our delegation held bilateral discussions.

We conducted a broad review of the current state of our bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on ways to further strengthen our relations in areas of mutual interest.

Recalling my successful visit to New Delhi, I conveyed to Prime Minister Modi Sri Lanka’s firm commitment to implementing the actions outlined in the India-Sri Lanka Joint Declaration titled “Fostering Partnerships for a Shared Future,” which was adopted during that visit.

I expressed my gratitude to Prime Minister Modi and the Government of India for their steadfast support in the recovery, growth, and stability of our country’s economy.

Collectively advancing economic recovery and development

Prime Minister Modi’s leadership and transformative initiatives, which have elevated India to the global stage, along with his personal friendship with Sri Lanka, have brought immense benefits to us in the areas of economic reforms, infrastructure development, and social empowerment.

I am deeply grateful to Prime Minister Modi for his unwavering commitment and support to our country’s economic recovery process and sustainable development, in alignment with India’s foreign policy framework of “Neighbourhood First.”

I briefed Prime Minister Modi on the success of our debt restructuring program and provided an update on our current economic situation, which is progressing towards stability. I am deeply grateful for the support of the Government of India throughout the debt restructuring process

Enhancing defence and maritime security collaboration

We had detailed discussions on the further development of the already existing defence cooperation between our two countries. I reaffirmed our commitment that Sri Lankan territory will not be used for any purpose that could undermine India’s security or regional stability.

I requested Prime Minister Modi’s intervention to urgently initiate bilateral technical discussions regarding Sri Lanka’s claim to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, with the aim of establishing the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond the mutually exclusive economic zone.

Digital transformation and India’s support for SLUDI

Sri Lanka recognises the importance of developing a digital economy to drive growth, innovation, and efficiency. We discussed the potential for digitalisation cooperation across several key areas. I am deeply grateful to the Government of India for their financial contribution of INR 300 million towards the implementation of the Sri Lanka Digital Identity (SLUDI) project.

Infrastructure and energy partnerships of the past, present, and future

We also acknowledged that the partnership between our two countries plays a crucial role in strengthening both our economic and people-to-people ties. I extended my thanks to Prime Minister Modi for converting the $ 14.9 million line of credit provided for the construction of the Maho-Omanthai railway line into a grant for the installation of the signalling system on the Maho-Anuradhapura railway line.

Prime Minister Modi and I are pleased to announce that we will inaugurate these two projects in Anuradhapura tomorrow. We discussed in detail our Government’s priority to ensure reliable, affordable, and timely access to energy resources to meet the needs of the people. We also explored further cooperation in this area to achieve energy security and meet the growing demands of our population.

Boosting trade, investment, and agriculture

Additionally, we exchanged views on development cooperation, particularly in agriculture. Prime Minister Modi and I also addressed trade and investment cooperation between our two countries. We sought the support of the Government of India and Prime Minister Modi to encourage increased Indian investments in Sri Lanka, particularly in key areas of mutual interest.

Our discussions also covered cooperation in the tourism sector. India has consistently been the largest source of tourists visiting Sri Lanka, and we agreed to enhance cooperation to fully realise the potential of this sector.

Expanding Tourism and Social Security Cooperation

Lastly, we requested Prime Minister Modi’s intervention to expedite the conclusion of the social security agreement between our two countries, which will benefit our expatriate workers.

We discussed the need for a cooperative approach to providing a sustainable solution to the fisheries issue. Recognising the serious environmental damage caused by bottom trawling, a prohibited practice in both our countries, we called for decisive measures to halt this activity and to address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.

A historic partnership followed by a shared vision, for a thriving future together

Today, we are pleased to participate in the exchange of several important bilateral agreements between Sri Lanka and India, covering areas such as energy, security cooperation, health sector collaboration, infrastructure projects, and debt restructuring.

This marks another significant step forward in our relationship. I am particularly pleased to join the virtual ceremony with Prime Minister Modi to lay the foundation stone for the Sampur Solar Power Plant, which will contribute 120 MW to our national grid. Additionally, we are launching the project to provide solar power systems to 5,000 religious sites across Sri Lanka, and inaugurating the Dambulla Temperature and Humidity Controlled Agro Cold Storage complex, the only temperature-controlled agricultural warehouse in Sri Lanka. We are deeply grateful to the Government of India for its generous cooperation and support in realising these people-centric projects.

I am also pleased to announce that Prime Minister Modi and his delegation will visit Anuradhapura tomorrow, which stands as a symbol of the great civilization that emerged in our country following the arrival of Buddhism, the greatest gift we have received from India. Prime Minister Modi will also pay homage to the sacred Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in Anuradhapura.

During the recent economic crisis, Prime Minister Modi announced that India would continue to support Sri Lanka in strengthening its democracy, stability, and economic recovery. It must be emphasised that India’s support, as a partner and friend, played a crucial role in Sri Lanka’s resilience. The people of both our nations must be given the opportunity to embrace a common path forward, through partnership in development, innovation, security, stability, peace in the Indian Ocean region, and the prosperity of our people.

India and Sri Lanka are not merely two countries on a map. It is essential to recognise that they are two nations deeply connected by history, strongly united by trade, and bound by friendship. I would also like to commend Prime Minister Modi’s concept of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” (together with all, development for all), which is a timely and pragmatic vision.

I am pleased to announce that the Government of Sri Lanka has decided to confer upon Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi the highest Sri Lankan honour, the “Sri Lanka Mitra Vibhushana” as a symbol of the enduring friendship and unwavering, multifaceted support that he has consistently extended to Sri Lanka and its people. This prestigious honour is reserved for foreign Heads of State in recognition of their friendship and cooperation with the people of Sri Lanka. We firmly believe that Prime Minister Modi, who has always stood by Sri Lanka, is most deserving of this distinction.

In Sri Lanka, we too are on a transformative path, which we call the “A Thriving Nation and a Beautiful Life” National Policy. This policy is designed to pave the way for economic progress, social justice, and to provide every citizen with the opportunity to prosper, regardless of their background.

As neighbours, partners, and long-standing friends, let us resolve, at this moment, to build a future filled with shared development. Once again, I express my sincere gratitude to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and his delegation for visiting Sri Lanka at this crucial time, when a people-centred political transformation is underway.🔺

Decoding the AKD-Modi pact

Decoding the AKD-Modi pact: Geopolitical logic, military alignment, existential danger

Daily FT LK Thursday, 10 April 2025 

Quite a conversion

 

Gotcha!

Au Revoir at Anuradhapura

---

“…We sincerely applaud the way India has positioned itself not only as a regional power, but also as a global leader…India and Sri Lanka are not merely two countries on a map. It is essential to recognise that they are two nations deeply connected by history, strongly united by trade, and bound by friendship…” 

- President Anura Kumara Dissanayake -

(https://www.ft.lk/news/Sri-Lanka-and-India-on-a-transformative-path-President-AKD/56-775274) 

---

Indian defence analysts speak of a Defence Pact or Defence Cooperation Pact with Sri Lanka. 

(https://youtu.be/XIfLDI5VP5A?si=PsxPKtfYKne9mdGF) 

Officials on both sides say it was a ‘formalization’, an ‘umbrella’ over the existing agreements. But why an ‘umbrella’ --or ‘chapeau’ (hat) as the French call it? Why ‘formalization’? Because it takes things to the next level. What’s that level? 

Addressing an election meeting in Galle, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake clarified matters:

“We need security in this region. We need to safeguard the security of this region. We should secure the assistance of those who have greater technological capacities in defence, greater skills in defence. If not how can a country move forward? We could have done so, if for 76 years our rulers had succeeded in bringing us to a higher rung in technology. We could have gone[forward]. But what happened? For 76 years the world developed rapidly in science and technology. The world developed rapidly in military science (“Yudha Vidyaava”) …Now what should we do? We must secure the assistance of those states which have accepted this new science and technology…Don’t we have to do that? Shouldn’t we do that? We are doing that!...” 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NSOwMSfaac&t=199s) 

Connect the dots. With this Defense Cooperation pact with India (“there’s nothing there” says AKD reassuringly in this speech), Anura is dragging us into an amended role in providing regional security; a role that is hardly even-handed or equidistant; balanced or omni-directional. A role that is hardly nonaligned. How is the region (“kalaapaya”) defined? If it is South Asia, what about the other countries of the region, including our staunch friend Pakistan? If it is the Indo-Pacific or Asia-Pacific region, what about our friend China? 

What’s all this about “military science” and technology anyway? How is that a priority for us, and at this time of economic crisis and falling living standards? 

Anura is plugging us as a peripheral unit into India’s security architecture which includes strategic alignment with the USA against China. Under AKD, Sri Lanka is now part of that. We have taken sides. 

As for ‘military science and technology’, it seems from Indian media reports that we shall have on Sri Lanka’s soil, Indian weapons manufacturing and stockpiling facilities. Where will they be located? Who will maintain, service and guard these? Indian military units—again? Having elements of India’s defence industry and warehousing on our soil will place them and therefore our island, on someone’s target menu.    

FSP’s Duminda Nagamuwa: Left Resistance

Symbolism shouts 

Symbolism speaks louder than words. Ceylon/Sri Lanka has hosted a great many foreign leaders. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the first ever visiting leader/head of government to be welcomed at a ceremony at Independence Square. This includes Premier Zhou Enlai (1957) and President Xi Jinping. 

The uniqueness of Modi’s reception at our Independence Square instead of the Presidential Secretariat with the usual gun salute on Galle Face Green facing the Indian Ocean, resides in the uniqueness of his host, President Anura Kumar Dissanayake. No other Ceylonese/Sri Lankan leader did or would have done this. Perhaps AKD confused ‘Independence Square’ with ‘In Dependence Square’? 

Sri Lanka’s highest award for a foreigner, Sri Lanka Mithra Vibhushana was awarded to Mahmoud Abbas and posthumously to Yasser Arafat by Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2014. That was a moral gesture of solidarity. It was never awarded by Mahinda to Xi Jinping. Anura awarded it to Narendra Modi.

Also symbolic was the unequal treatment of Sri Lankan and Indian journalists throughout the visit. Sri Lankan journalists were treated as second class citizens. This is symbolic of the new reality after the AKD-Modi equation was codified in seven agreements. Sri Lanka has a subaltern status and therefore, so do Sri Lankans. 

Finally, there is the symbolism of Modi’s return home. He left from Anuradhapura (in the ‘Sinhala heartland’) in an Indian Air Force chopper, then flew over the ‘Ram Sethu’-- the ‘Hanuman bridge’—between Mannar and Rameshwaram. It is the site of a proposed bridge across the Palk Straits to establish contiguity between Sri Lanka’s North and India’s Tamil Nadu. The view from Prime Minister Modi’s seat was videoed, and featured on Sri Lankan television news.  

Decoding AKD-Modi

Prime Minister Modi visited a traditional Sinhala puppet show on the precincts of the Taj Samudra hotel. Hours later he participated in a larger puppet show, this time with him as a puppeteer, at the Presidential Secretariat where seven agreements were signed. 

His visit to Sri Lanka is best summed up as ‘power projection by invitation’. The crux of Anura’s package of agreements with Modi, especially of the defence agreement, is that Sri Lanka is now a strategic ally and subordinate partner of India. It is premised on Anura’s acceptance of the identity – not merely the overlap and intersection -- of India’s and Sri Lanka’s strategic/security interests. 

No previous Sri Lankan leader or administration took that position. Sri Lanka’s position was that we have our own distinct strategic and security interests as befits our distinctive, independent identity, and these may or may not intersect with those of India or any other country, given the specific situation. Whether or not they do so depend on Sri Lanka’s national interests. Thus, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike exercised the right to allow Pakistani planes flying from West to East Pakistan during the Bangladesh War. 

Anura Dissanayake has accepted a doctrine that Sri Lanka has no interests independent and separate from India’s. Once that is conceded, the implication is that Sri Lanka has no identity separate from and independent of India. 

The Sri Lanka visit was a triumph for Prime Minister Modi in terms of outcome. I cannot think of a single visit to any country in the South Asian region, or the Asian continent, or indeed in the world, in which Modi secured for India, a greater footprint, a greater chunk from/of the country he was visiting. He has never returned home with a greater share of and a greater say over a country he was visiting—anywhere.  

No other country and no other leader have ever given Prime Minister Modi or India a larger share of itself and a greater say in its destiny as has Sri Lanka under AKD. There’s never been a greater integration with India of anyone’s country, or a bigger sellout of anyone’s country to India under Modi or any of his predecessors, than Anura has just perpetrated. 

President Dissanayake failed even to secure an agreement which safeguards Sri Lanka’s Northern waters from flotillas of predatory, piratical fishermen from Tamil Nadu. Needless to add, he failed to signal, still less reinforce, the status quo over Kachchatheevu which Madam Bandaranaike secured for Sri Lanka. 

With the seven pacts, Sri Lanka is now transitioning into a peripheral unit of Akhand Bharat, as no other South Asian country has consented to be. Anura Kumara Dissanayake has been the first leader in South Asia to sign up in effect, to Modi’s expansionist Akhand Bharat project. 

Anura Dissanayake’s accords with Modi have actually placed Sri Lanka not merely within India’s informal sphere of influence, but within India’s strategic space. A sphere of influence is a sphere of preponderance, not a sphere of ownership. But Anura Dissanayake has made Modi’s India, co-owner and co-ruler of Sri Lanka.

If in ancient mythology, Lanka’s Ravana abducted India’s Sita and brought her back to the island, AKD has more than compensated by reversing the process: gifting Modi as modern-day Ram, a Sri Lankan Sita—the sovereignty of Lanka and strategic control over the island. Anura’s role model isn’t Modi but the mythical Vibheeshana who betrayed his country to Rama. 

Not ‘Civilizational Twins’

Prime Minister Modi’s doctrine declared at AKD’s official dinner, that “India and Sri Lanka are civilizational twins” is manifestly NOT true. If that were the case, there should be a Sinhala community of considerable size and antiquity in India, but there isn’t even a small one. And there are few Buddhists. 

Our island was so recognizably distinctive and autonomous that even during the British empire, Ceylon was not governed from Delhi as part of the British Raj. It was governed instead, directly from Whitehall, London. After Independence, we governed ourselves. President Anura Dissanayake’s seven agreements with Prime Minister Modi are changing that. AKD has transferred our destiny to Delhi.  

Sri Lanka and its majority community the Sinhala people have a long-chronicled distinctive history. The Lankan story is one of a complex, contradictory, dialectical relationship with India. The primary aspect of that dialectical dynamic has been the constant existential struggle to assert itself as autonomous from India; to keep the island’s identity distinct from and independent of the vast, teeming, caste-ridden landmass of India, especially South India. What President Anura Dissanayake has done is to go against our long history, its logic, its ethos, its grain. 

A space between this island and the subcontinental landmass, is what preserves the essential identity of our country. The narrower that space becomes, the more difficult to maintain that distinct identity. What Anura has either proposed or acceded to is to narrow the distance functionally, almost to the degree that there is none. His seven agreements integrate Sri Lanka with India, especially Tamil Nadu. He is trying to move counter-clockwise to our historical project of long duration, that of demarcation and independent national assertion from India and a hostile Tamil Nadu. 

Anura has therefore betrayed the most fundamental duty of any Sri Lankan leader over millennia, up to, including, and most especially in the post-Independence period: to preserve and protect the distinctive identity and interests of the island of Sri Lanka as a separate country, an independent, sovereign state. 

He has now made Sri Lanka more dependent and more subordinate than it has ever been, to India. He has accepted the overlordship of India’s ruler, Narendra Modi. He has rendered Sri Lanka part of the Modi Raj. In effect, he is a Chief Minister of a quasi-state of India and the JVP-NPP is its governing party. 

AKD’s discourse

For 60+ years, I have been keenly aware of the behaviour and discourse of Ceylonese/Sri Lanka leaders in their interactions with foreign counterparts. Aged seven, I was with my parents while my father covered the 2nd Non-Aligned Summit Conference in Cairo in October 1964 attended by Sirimavo Bandaranaike. 

My parents were guests of the Cuban govt at the 6th Nonaligned Conference in Havana in September 1979 and my father wrote in his Lanka Guardian about the JR Jayewardene-Fidel Castro chemistry. 

Let’s fast forward. I was working with President Premadasa when he chaired the SAARC summit. In 2007, I accompanied President Rajapaksa who had arrived in Geneva to address the ILO, at meetings with formidable international personalities who grilled him about the war. In 2019, I was a few feet away in the same room as President Sirisena, President Putin, President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Jaishankar.

I have never once seen, heard or read of a Ceylonese/Sri Lankan leader speak as fawningly as I saw President Anura Kumara Dissanayake did on live TV, addressing Prime Minister Narendra Modi. JR maintained his dignity even with an Indian gun pointed figuratively at his head. Anura came out as a huge Modi follower and fan. British Prime Minister Tony Blair was dubbed a ‘poodle’ for signing up with US President George W Bush, but even he never sounded as cringe-worthy. 

The leader of a party founded 60 years ago as a Marxist-Leninist party, Anura Dissanayake wasn’t moved on his presidential visit to Beijing to make remarks even remotely as enthusiastic as those he made about Modi, about Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, Xi Jinping, the Communist Party of China, the People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese Revolution, or China’s development miracle (which surpasses India’s).  

Not 1987

In 1987, The Financial Times (UK) had a world exclusive on the text of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord. It’s Colombo correspondent Mervyn de Silva who had begun his illustrious career as a reporter, had lost none of his instincts and skills, and had scooped the story. 

Prime Minister Premadasa read the newspaper in Tokyo, was livid that he had not been shown the text beforehand by President Jayewardene, and knew nothing of it. He phoned Mervyn for an in-depth chat (as was his habit from Opposition MP through his Presidency). When Premadasa returned to Colombo it was clear to the public from his absence at the official signing ceremony and attendant receptions that President Jayewardene’s Prime Minister was a dissenter. So was National Security Minister Athulathmudali.

President Dissanayake has no such problems. There’s no dissent either in his ranks or from the leadership of the main Opposition.  

Over a year before the Accord/IPKF, Prime Minister Premadasa was author of the patriotic novel ‘Golu Muhuda’/‘The Silent Sea’ (Dayawansa Jayakody, January 1986, Colombo). The title phrase was from a discomfited Prince Dutugemunu’s reply to his mother. As President, Premadasa was the only Lankan leader to build a statue of Ravana -- having sent back the Indian Peacekeeping Force. However, his son attended the presidential banquet AKD hosted in honour of the visiting Indian PM, despite the manifest discourtesy of not being briefed as Opposition Leader, on the details of the pacts that had been signed. 

Sharks and Black Swans 

President AKD and his administration will be undone in one term by a convergence of five ‘sharks’: 

 The Trump tariffs which the Anura administration was warned about repeatedly by Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa but chose to ignore. 

The IMF agreement AKD chose not to renegotiate and readjust.

The repayments due in the debt restructuring agreement he chose not to bargain hard over.

Convulsive global economic and military volatility (trade and tariff wars, US-Israeli strike on Iran, with retaliatory impacts on oil prices) which will be the equivalent of the 1973 OPEC oil price shock that hit the Sirima Bandaranaike-led SLFP-Left coalition government. 

Public disaffection with the ubiquitous Indianization of Sri Lankan affairs, percolating through. 

In world history, when conventional parties and personalities representing the old elites and Establishment have been irresolute or tepid in the struggle to defend the country, the task of resistance to foreign expansionism devolves on the radicals, revolutionaries, the Left—or the extreme nationalist Right. I prefer the non-racist Left. 

In today’s Sri Lanka, it is the Frontline Socialist Party-People’s Struggle Alliance (FSP-PSA) constellation, the real motor-force and spearhead of Aragalaya 2022, that displays fire in the belly, backbone, critical intellect, fidelity to principles, and collective conscience, to resist Anura’s abject acceptance of satellite status for Sri Lanka. 

As the Aragalaya was in 2022, and Anura and the JVP-NPP were in 2023-2024, could the FSP-PSA possibly be the next ‘Black Swan’? 🔺