In February this year (2024), the visit to New Delhi by the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)/National People's Power (NPP) Leader Aruna Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) was viewed as significant development in domestic politics and emerging power relations in the Indian Ocean. On invitation from the Indian Government, Dissanayake led a delegation comprising Vijitha Herath, Nihal Abeysinghe and Prof. Anil Jayantha to New Delhi, and met both External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr. S. Jaishankar and Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Kumar Doval. While the JVP has been around in the political sphere for nearly 60 years, this meeting with the Indian Government would likely be their most important foreign engagement in recent times. Observers in Colombo and around the world opined that New Delhi had ‘read the writing on the wall’ on Sri Lanka’s trajectory. 

Several months later, at the Presidential Elections held in September, Dissanayake beat all traditional political elites to become President of Sri Lanka. Weeks later, the NPP which he led won a landslide victory at the Parliamentary Elections. The invitation to visit New Delhi in February was an indication that India has recognised a marked shift in the political discourse in Sri Lanka, and has gauged the legacy leftist party’s new makeover, the NPP, as an emerging political force worth engaging. The high-level diplomatic engagement is a publicity coup for the NPP, and aided their campaign while making up for the core-JVP’s lack of international connectivity and acceptance at the time. The Daily Morning also observed the shift in Indo-Lanka relations to engage with the ‘new political force’ in February.

Fast forward to yesterday, President Dissanayake led a delegation made up of now Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath and current Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development Anil Jayantha to New Delhi, his first foreign visit since becoming President. His team has changed little since his first invitation to New Delhi in February. This week’s three-day visit by the new Sri Lankan President and the new political power running the show in Colombo may likely lead to a renewed friendship between the Indian Ocean neighbours. 

President Dissanayake was given a grand welcome in New Delhi, with Premier Modi saying at the joint press conference: “I warmly welcome President Dissanayake to India. I am pleased that you chose India for your first foreign visit, as President. President Dissanayake’s visit has infused renewed dynamism and energy in our relationship. We have adopted a futuristic vision for our partnership. We have laid emphasis on investment-led growth and connectivity in our economic partnership. And have decided that physical, digital and energy connectivity shall be the key pillars of our partnership. We shall work towards establishing electricity-grid connectivity and multi-product petroleum pipelines between both the nations. The Sampur Solar Power Project shall be accelerated. Additionally, LNG shall be supplied for Sri Lanka’s power plants. Both sides shall endeavour to accomplish ETCA soon, to promote bilateral trade.” India is clearly following through on the Indo-Lanka strategic connectivity MOU signed between Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Premier Modi during his visit to New Delhi in 2023. Ironically, the NPP had voiced concerns regarding the said connectivity projects between Sri Lanka and India when the agreement was made. Today, with the NPP in Government, hardly a word has been said in criticism about the projects. 

Dissanayake addressing the press said: “Just a while ago, Prime Minister Modi and I along with our respective delegations concluded our bilateral deliberations. We carried out a comprehensive review of the present status of our relations and exchanged views on the ways and means to further strengthen our cooperation in areas of mutual interest in the future. I thanked Prime Minister Modi and the Government of India for the unwavering support extended to Sri Lanka, especially during the unprecedented economic crisis the country underwent in 2022 and for strongly supporting Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring process.  Prime Minister Modi assured India’s full commitment for the sustained economic growth of Sri Lanka in keeping with the special place Sri Lanka occupies in India’s foreign policy framework. Prime Minister Modi and I acknowledged the importance of intensifying political engagements at various levels, including through cooperation between the parliamentary institutions of the two countries. We also discussed trade and investment cooperation between the two countries and investments in key sectors. We also exchanged views on cooperation in the fields of defence and security, power and energy, training and capacity building, education, agriculture and social security.” A joint statement also highlighted a discussion about exploring the possibility of concluding a framework agreement on defence cooperation, and also to foster cooperation in hydrography, both key areas India has been concerned about for some time.

Two thorny bilateral issues relating to the incessant bottom trawling by Indian poachers in Sri Lankan waters had, and the matter of Sri Lanka’s claim to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (UNCLCS) for the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond Exclusive Economic Zone had been discussed, which is a positive outcome. 

“While welcoming the recent conclusion of the Sixth Joint Working Group on Fisheries, we also discussed the need for a cooperative approach in addressing the fisheries issue for a sustainable solution. Recognising the irreparable ecological damage caused by bottom trawling which is a banned practice in both countries, I requested that measures be taken to stop this practice and curb IUU fishing,” Dissanayake said.