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Repairing ruptured ties with India: Sri Lanka plans three-year diplomatic offensive

14 Aug 2021

  • Comprehensive mission document for 2021-23 for SL missions in India
  • Draws on experience of the ‘troika’ arrangement during last stages of war
  • Seeks engagement with Tamil Nadu political leadership to address issues
  • Expanded collaboration in strategic co-operation, military ties, and Indian Ocean security
By M.R. Narayan Swamy Reporting from New Delhi In a bid to put back on track the diplomatic ties with India, ruptured by the China shadow, Sri Lanka has prepared a three-year diplomatic offensive to elevate friendship with New Delhi.  A comprehensive mission document for 2021-23, readied for Sri Lanka’s three diplomatic missions in India (and for a consulate to come up in Kolkata next year), makes a rare admission that bilateral ties have been derailed, hit by “growing trust deficit” due to “changes in the geopolitical equilibrium in the region”.  This has caused the traditionally friendly India-Sri Lanka relationship to be “increasingly dominated by a transaction approach,” reads the 27-page document prepared ahead of the arrival of Colombo’s High Commissioner Designate to India Milinda Moragoda.  The “Integrated Country Strategy for Sri Lankan Diplomatic Missions in India”, which seeks to achieve Colombo’s foreign policy objective vis-à-vis India, is marked by a frankness not often seen in diplomatic stock taking. As a policy outline, it has come closest to admitting that Colombo’s public embracing of Beijing has indeed brought an unprecedented frostiness in relations with New Delhi.  “The overarching goal…should be to contribute towards continuously maintaining the momentum of the existing partnership between the two countries, and to elevate that partnership to the level of a special relationship,” reads the document, which has not been made public yet either in India or Sri Lanka.   The document, which clearly has President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s approval, was seen in the preparatory stages by senior foreign service officers, former High Commissioners to India, as well as academics besides serving Sri Lankan diplomats in India.  While the document is expected to provide an indicative framework for the Sri Lankan missions’ work for the next two years, it will be an evolving framework that could be further fine-tuned in the implementing phase. Colombo has a High Commission in New Delhi (northern India), a Deputy High Commission in Chennai (southern India), and a Consulate in Mumbai (western India). A consulate will open in Kolkata (eastern India) in 2022.  India-Sri Lanka relations have seen many ups and downs since Tamil militancy erupted in the 1980s with New Delhi’s covert backing, leading to the deployment of Indian troops in the country’s northeast where it fought a war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1987-90. But the relations have touched an unusual low after Colombo moved dramatically close to Beijing, ending all pretentions of keeping equidistance between the two Asian giants amid their strained ties and border tensions.  The document could be an attempt to repair the diplomatic derailment with a country at a time when critics in Sri Lanka are upset over what is seen as the Government’s brazenly pro-China and anti-India policy. Officially, Sri Lanka continues to maintain that it sees India as a friend.  Underlying the “thousands of years” of bilateral friendship, it reads: “Even with the inherently asymmetric nature and despite special and differential treatment regimes, there is no lack of strategic content in the relationship between Sri Lanka and India.”  It makes a specific reference to the death of nearly 1,200 Indian soldiers in the war against the Tamil Tigers. Many Indians feel that the deaths of such a large number of soldiers have never been properly recognised by Colombo.  Sri Lanka seeks expanded collaboration in strategic co-operation, military ties and Indian Ocean security, joint military exercises, study tours, and more high-level military exchanges besides relevant training berths offered by the Defence Ministry in India.  It calls for establishing and maintaining contacts with Indian paramilitary and police forces to get additional training opportunities for Sri Lankan counterparts.  The document suggests at least one visit a year from Sri Lanka to India by the Secretary of Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff, Commanders of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as the Director General of the Coast Guard. It seeks three visits to Sri Lanka by defence delegations from India.  At the same time, “it would be important to offer training opportunities in Sri Lankan military establishments to Indian military personnel”.  The document says India’s commitment of billions of dollars as development assistance, the Free Trade Agreement, military ties, and much more, “amply demonstrate the breadth and depth of the strategic partnership”.  “In recent years, the Indo-Sri Lanka bilateral relationship has been increasingly dominated by a transactional approach. This is a consequence of the changes in the geopolitical equilibrium in the region that have resulted in a growing trust deficit.  “Although this development might, at times, be perceived as a setback, this transactional aspect can be channelled towards building confidence and utilised as a means to bridge the trust deficit.   “If viewed in this way, this process could help reset this vital bilateral relationship and lay the foundation for an even stronger and enduring partnership between the two countries,” the document states. The Sri Lankan missions should create multi-faceted platforms for strategic-level dialogue and co-operation, to raise the partnership to a special relationship, “one marked by interdependence, mutual respect, and affection”.  The document calls for increased interactions at political level through regular exchange of high-level political visits and co-operation with India at multilateral and regional levels. There must be at least one visit by the Head of State or Government from either side each year, “since it is imperative to maintain constant communication and to develop mutual trust at political level with India”.  Unlike until now, Colombo should build greater interactions with Indian states “considered important from the Sri Lankan perspective” and go for exchanges also at provincial council and local government levels. Chief ministers of Indian states should be urged to visit Colombo and Sri Lankan political leaders should return the visits.  The document states the continued presence of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, many of who have been in India since the 1980s, “gives rise to complications in bilateral relations. Vested interests have exploited the sentiments…to give credence to their theories for political gains”.  The voluntary repatriation of the refugees through the existing mechanism is slow. “Settling the issue of externally displaced persons could prevent fringe elements from dominating the discourse concerning this emotive issue.”  In a revolutionary step, it seeks engagement with the political leadership of Tamil Nadu to encourage a smooth return of the refugees to Sri Lanka and also on the issue of fishermen, including bottom trawling. Colombo has repeatedly voiced concern over the damage caused to the seabed due to bottom trawling by rich Indian fishermen.    Besides fostering relations between influential MPs from both countries, Sri Lanka wants a functional and vibrant Indo-Sri Lanka Parliamentary Friendship Group in Indian Parliament. Emphasis is laid on intensifying people-to-people contacts at various levels, partly to improve Sri Lanka’s standing in India.   The document advocates increased Indian investments in Sri Lanka, scaled up Sri Lankan exports to India, and higher flows of Indian tourists. According to projections, Indian tourist arrivals in Sri Lanka could touch 169,955 in 2022.  Issues affecting Sri Lankan exports to India include increasing protectionism, limited market access, a challenging and unpredictable regulatory environment, and the “Make in India” initiative which prioritises local business and sourcing of local raw materials and products over imports.   Realising the pro-Hindu nature of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, there is focus on increased “Hindu exchanges between the two countries”. The document calls for a ceremonial handing over of a “sacred stone” from the Sita Amman temple in Sri Lanka to the upcoming, grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya – where Hindu mobs razed the 16th Century Babri Mosque in 1992 – besides opportunities for Sri Lankan Hindu religious leaders and scholars to visit India.  Highlighted in this connection are the Buddhist circuit in India, the Ramayana, Murugan, and Shiva Shakthi trails in Sri Lanka, as well as the Vailankanni trail in South India. Vailankanni is a sacred church in Tamil Nadu which draws tens of thousands of believers, many Hindus included.  Sri Lanka seeks Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in Sri Lanka, particularly because of its homegrown Covid-19 vaccine, commercial links with Indian IT majors, and learning from Indian expertise in disaster management.   Colombo also wants to pursue the resumption of passenger ferry services between Talaimannar and Rameswaram, Colombo and Tuticorin, and Kankesanthurai and Karaikal.  Other highlights in the document include: 
  • Boosting air, sea, grid, and digital connectivity between India and Sri Lanka 
  • A mechanism acceptable to all sides to resolve fisheries-related issues
  • Identification of suitable persons to be appointed as honorary consuls in key Indian states 
  • Draw on the experience of the “troika” arrangement between the two countries during the last stages of the LTTE conflict to enhance strategic co-operation
  • Establish a Sri Lankan cultural centre in India (on the lines of the Indian Cultural Centre in Sri Lanka) 
  • Approach reputed private Indian universities to secure scholarships of reduced fees for Sri Lankan students 
  • Facilitate visits by Sri Lankan journalists, writers, and filmmakers to India 
  • Issue a commemorative stamp to mark the centenary of Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to Sri Lanka 
  • Issue commemorative coin to mark the 75th anniversary of India-Sri Lanka diplomatic relations 
  • Seek opportunities for Sri Lankan scientists and experts to be stationed on board Indian research vessels 


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