India keeps its tabs on crisis-stricken Sri Lanka

India is cautiously watching the political developments in neighboring Sri Lanka, where Mahinda Rajapaksa has resigned from the office of the Prime Minister in the wake of growing protests against the failure of the government to manage the economic crisis.

New Delhi is keen to make sure that the goodwill India gained in Sri Lanka over the past few months with its support to the people of the cash-strapped island nation is not squandered away and that is why it is likely to keep away from the political process that would unfold in the neighboring country after the resignation of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who was the fourth of the Rajapaksa Clan to leave office. Mahinda’s son Namal and brothers Basil and Chamal quit last month. The only Rajapaksa left in power is Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa himself, although street protests against the regime are continuing and demand for his resignation is growing louder.

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A source in New Delhi told DH that India would continue to work with the Government of Sri Lanka and stand by the people of the island nation, no matter whoever would come to power in the coming days. India already provided two credit lines to Sri Lanka over the past few months – one worth Rs 1 billion to help it procure food, medicines, and other essentials as well as another worth Rs 500 million to help it buy fuel. Besides, India has over the past few months not only extended a $ 400 million currency swap to Sri Lanka under the SAARC Framework but also deferred the island nation's Asian Clearing Union (A.C.U.) settlement of $515.2 million.

India’s support to Sri Lanka to help it deal with the worst economic crisis it experienced since its independence helped it claw back the space it had lost to China in the strategically located Indian Ocean nation.

The second of Mahinda Rajapaksa's two consecutive terms (2005-2015) in the office of Sri Lankan President had seen China expanding its footprints in the Indian Ocean island nation, causing much unease to India. He had ignored the security interests of India and allowed China to develop strategic assets, like Hambantota Port, in the island. He had also allowed two nuclear submarines of the People Liberation Army Navy of China to dock at the Colombo Port, raising hackles in New Delhi.

After Gotabaya Rajapaksa was elected the President and Mahinda Rajapaksa returned to power as Prime Minister in November 2019, Sri Lanka’s drift toward China regained momentum. The government led by the Rajapaksas scrapped a trilateral treaty Sri Lanka earlier signed with India and Japan for the development of the East Container Terminal of the Colombo Port, apparently at the behest of China. It also got the Sri Lankan Parliament to pass the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill, which drew flak for allegedly allowing China to set up a colony in the Indian Ocean island nation undermining the sovereignty of the country. New Delhi is concerned over the CHEC Port City Colombo as it could eventually be turned into an overseas colony of China – less than 300 kilometers away from the southern tip of India.

New Delhi’s quiet and painstaking diplomacy with Colombo however paid off with India getting some success in clawing back the ground it lost to China in the Indian Ocean. Sri Lanka awarded the contract for the West Container Terminal to Adani Group of India in September 2021.