Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in a joint press briefing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s stand that “it will not permit its territory to be used in any manner inimical to the security of India as well as towards regional stability”. Dissanayake also underscored that he requested PM Modi’s intervention in “convening early bilateral technical discussions pertaining to Sri Lanka’s claim to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf for the Establishment of the Outer Limits of the Continental Shelf beyond Exclusive Economic Zone.”
Significance of Sri Lanka’s commitment
Sri Lanka’s commitment gains prominence as the ties between the two countries were on a decline, as both New Delhi and Colombo were at loggerheads after the docking of the Chinese missile and satellite tracking ship ‘Yuan Wang’ at Hambantota port in August 2022.
Another Chinese warship docked at the Colombo port in August 2023.
India, Sri Lanka sign defence pact
During PM Modi’s current visit, India and Sri Lanka have for the first time signed an ambitious defence cooperation pact, which outlines a broader roadmap for deeper bilateral cooperation, asserting that the security of both nations is interlinked and dependent on each other.
The defence pact has come as a major move to strengthen strategic ties, and it comes nearly four decades after the Indian Peace Keeping Force intervened in the island nation.
The defence pact comes in the backdrop of India’s concerns about China’s increasing presence in Sri Lanka, which is located on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes in what India considers part of its strategic backyard.
Has Sri Lanka got rid of Beijing’s influence?
Beijing has exerted its influence in the country in recent years, given its aggressive push for the Belt and Road global development programme.
China was once seen as having an upper hand in Sri Lanka with its free-flowing loans and infrastructure investments. However, Sri Lanka’s economic collapse in 2022 provided an opportunity for India, as New Delhi stepped in with massive financial and material assistance, including food, fuel and medicine.
