{"id":243888,"date":"2025-10-18T01:40:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T20:10:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=243888"},"modified":"2025-10-25T20:07:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T14:37:59","slug":"harinis-visit-to-india-a-foreign-policy-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/harinis-visit-to-india-a-foreign-policy-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"Harini\u2019s Visit To India: A Foreign Policy Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0A. Jathindra<\/a>\u00a0\u2013<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

A. Jathindra<\/p><\/div>\n

Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Harini Amarasuriya<\/span><\/a><\/span>, has made her first official visit to New Delhi. She previously\u00a0remarked<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0that Sri Lanka lacks a coherent foreign policy: \u201cWe do not seem to have a coherent foreign policy; every minister comes in, and they tend to take unilateral decisions, and the government tends to take unilateral decisions\u2014not based on any kind of coherent policy; that\u2019s something we really need to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Notably, this trip to India follows her recent official visit to China. Amarasuriya was invited to China by President Xi Jinping<\/a><\/span> to attend the Global Leaders\u2019 Meeting on Women. During her stay, she held wide-ranging discussions with President Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, focusing on deepening Sri Lanka\u2019s engagement with China and further consolidating the longstanding friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two nations.<\/p>\n

Can the visit to New Delhi, coming directly after the trip to China, be seen as an expression of the National People\u2019s Power\u2019s (NPP<\/a><\/span>) foreign policy approach\u2014one that seeks to maintain an equal distance from both countries?<\/p>\n

The democratic rise of the JVP (Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna), which previously failed to seize power through armed struggle, was not solely a victory of its ideology. Rather, it was the economic crisis and a subsequent leadership vacuum that rallied people to the NPP. JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake<\/a><\/span> became a charismatic political figure and ended the eight-decade-long political domination of Sri Lanka\u2019s old elites. Even the Tamil minority, who historically voted for Tamil parties, overwhelmingly supported the NPP. In this context, one may question whether the JVP could have come to power if not for the country\u2019s bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

Yet, the JVP still cannot contest elections independently; it must do so under the NPP banner. This marks a significant departure from the traditional JVP. The JVP\u2019s historical anti-India and anti-Western stance continues to raise concerns. The recent US State Department report on Sri Lanka\u2019s economic conditions highlights persistent doubts among foreign investors, citing the JVP\u2019s past positions and Marxist ideology.<\/p>\n

Bilateral relations are difficult to manage under a cloud of suspicion. Diplomacy cannot always operate as if under constant threat. The JVP must further evolve to dispel these doubts.<\/p>\n

Within the NPP, Harini Amarasuriya<\/span> projects a liberal yet progressive image. Some regard her as the new face of Sri Lanka\u2019s foreign policy, with her rising international profile potentially loosening the JVP\u2019s tight grip on foreign engagements. Importantly, Harini is not part of the JVP; she embodies the NPP\u2019s liberal outlook and, in many ways, represents the next voice of the movement after Anura Kumara Dissanayake. According to Harini, the government will have to walk a tightrope to maintain economic stability. \u201c2028, I would say, is the critical year because that\u2019s when we come out of the IMF program,\u201d\u00a0she added<\/span><\/a><\/span>. In this context, her visit to India is especially significant.<\/p>\n

Although Sri Lanka is gradually recovering from its economic crisis, it has not fully emerged from danger. During the worst of the crisis, India provided four billion US dollars in aid through its \u201cNeighborhood First\u201d policy. Ranil Wickremesinghe aptly described this as a \u201cbreath of life.\u201d The question now is whether Colombo approaches international relations with the same \u201cneighbors first\u201d attitude that India employs. The NPP appears to continue the foreign policy subordination seen under previous regimes.<\/p>\n

During President Anura Kumara Dissanayake\u2019s first visit to India, he\u00a0stated<\/span><\/a><\/span>\u00a0that the party was not entering a power struggle\u2014echoing sentiments previously\u00a0expressed by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a><\/span>. This phrasing suggests a desire to remain neutral in the competition between India and China, aiming for balanced relations with both. Is this approach correct? It isn\u2019t easy to treat an immediate neighbor and a distant competitor in the same way. The NPP government must learn from the foreign policy missteps of its predecessors. Some argue that the NPP\u2019s approach has caused relatively Less damaging to the country than all its predecessors<\/span><\/p>\n

After a year under NPP leadership, this assessment may be true. Yet, the long-term viability of pursuing \u201cbalance\u201d and \u201cneutrality\u201d remains uncertain. In light of these realities, the NPP must establish a coherent foreign policy towards India, making the bilateral relationship a cornerstone of Sri Lanka\u2019s international strategy\u2014an essential \u201cplus\u201d in foreign affairs. Colombo should move towards an \u201cIndia First Always Policy\u201d (IFAP), marking a necessary evolution in its foreign policy framework. Simply declaring that Sri Lanka will not permit its territory to be used against India\u2019s interests is insufficient; such assurances must be translated into concrete, actionable foreign policy positions.<\/p>\n

*A. <\/i><\/span>Jathindra is the head of the think tank Centre for Strategic Studies – Trincomalee (CSST) and a Sri Lankan-based independent political analyst.<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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