Relation between India and Sri Lanka :

Introduction :

    India-Sri Lanka relations have generally been friendly, but were controversially affected by the Sri Lankan Civil War and by the failure of Indian intervention during the war. India is the only neighbor of Sri Lanka, separated by the Palk Strait; both nations occupy a strategic position in South Asia and have sought to build a common security umbrella in the Indian Ocean. Historically and culturally, the two nations have been considerably close, with 70% of Sri Lankans continuing to follow Theravada Buddhism to this day.

In recent years Sri Lanka has moved closer to China, especially in terms of naval agreements. India has signed a nuclear energy deal to improve relations.

Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan civil war:

In the 1970s–1980s, private entities and elements in the Research and Analysis Wing and the state government of Tamil Nadu were believed to be encouraging the funding and training for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist insurgent force. In 1987, faced with growing anger amongst its own Tamils, and a flood of refugees, India intervened directly in the conflict for the first time after the Sri Lankan government attempted to regain control of the northern Jaffna region by means of an economic blockade and military assaults; India supplied food and medicine by air and sea. After subsequent negotiations, India and Sri Lanka entered into an agreement. The peace accord assigned a certain degree of regional autonomy in the Tamil areas with Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) controlling the regional council and called for the Tamil militant groups to lay down their arms. Further India was to send a peacekeeping force, named the IPKF to Sri Lanka to enforce the disarmament and to watch over the regional council.

Even though the accord was signed between the governments of Sri Lanka and India, with the Tamil Tigers and other Tamil militant groups not having a role in the signing of the accord, most Tamil militant groups accepted this agreement, the LTTE rejected the accord because they opposed the candidate, who belonged to another militant group named Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), for chief administrative officer of the merged Northern and Eastern provinces. Instead the LTTE named three other candidates for the position. The candidates proposed by the LTTE were rejected by India. The LTTE subsequently refused to hand over their weapons to the IPKF.

The result was that the LTTE now found itself engaged in military conflict with the Indian Army, and launched their first attack on an Indian army rations truck on October 8, killing five Indian para-commandos who were on board by strapping burning tires around their necks. The government of India then decided that the IPKF should disarm the LTTE by force, and the Indian Army launched number of assaults on the LTTE, including a month-long campaign dubbed Operation Pawan to win control of the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE. When the IPKF engaged the LTTE, the then president of Sri Lanka, Ranasinghe Premadasa, began supporting LTTE and funded LTTE with arms. During the warfare with the LTTE, IPKF was also alleged to have made human rights violation against the civilians. Notably, IPKF was alleged to have perpetrated Jaffna teaching hospital massacre which was the killing of over 70 civilians including patients, doctors and nurses. The ruthlessness of this campaign, and the Indian army's subsequent anti-LTTE operations made it extremely unpopular amongst many Tamils in Sri Lanka. The conflict between the LTTE and the Indian Army left over 1,000 Indian soldier’s dead.

The Indo-Sri Lankan Accord, which had been unpopular amongst Sri Lankans for giving India a major influence, now became a source of nationalist anger and resentment as the IPKF was drawn fully into the conflict. Sri Lankans protested the presence of the IPKF, and the newly elected Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa demanded its withdrawal, which was completed by March 1990. On May 21, 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and the LTTE was alleged to be the perpetrator. As a result, India declared the LTTE to be a terrorist outfit in 1992. Bilateral relations improved in the 1990s and India supported the peace process but has resisted calls to get involved again. India has also been wary of and criticised the extensive military involvement of Pakistan in the conflict, accusing the latter of supplying lethal weaponry and encouraging Sri Lanka to pursue military action rather than peaceful negotiations to end the civil war.

Commercial ties :

India and Sri Lanka are member nations of several regional and multilateral organizations such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme, South Asian Economic Union and BIMSTEC, working to enhance cultural and commercial ties. Since a bilateral free trade agreement was signed and came into effect in 2000, Indo-Sri Lankan trade rose 128% by 2004 and quadrupled by 2006, reaching USD 2.6 billion. Between 2000 and 2004, India's exports to Sri Lanka in the last four years increased by 113%, from USD 618 million to $1,319 million while Sri Lankan exports to India increased by 342%, from $44 million to USD $194 million.  The year 2010 is predicted to be the best year for bilateral trade on record, with Sri Lanka's exports to India increasing by 45% over the first seven months of the year.

India's National Thermal Power Corp (NTPC) is also scheduled to build a 500 MW thermal power plant in Sampoor (Sampur). The NTPC claims that this plan will take the Indo-Sri Lankan relationship to new level.

Fishing disputes:

There have been several alleged incidents of Sri Lankan Navy personnel firing on Indian fishermen fishing in the Palk Strait, where India and Sri Lanka are only separated by 12 nautical miles. The issue is because of Indian fishermen using mechanized trawlers which deprive the Sri Lankan fishermen including Tamils of their catch and also damaging their fishing boats. The Sri Lankan government wants India to ban use of mechanized trawlers in the Palk Strait region and the negotiations on the same are going on.

India officially protested against Sri Lanka Navy for its alleged involvement in attacks on Indian fishermen on January 12, 2011. Even after the official protest, another fisherman was killed in a brutal manner on Jan 22, 2011. Over 730 fishermen have been killed in the last 30 years. The apathetic attitude of the Indian government and the national media towards the alleged killing of Tamil Nadu fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy is being strongly condemned.

 In November 2014, Sri Lanka ordered capital punishment to Indian fishermen who were allegedly involved in drug supply or other kind of smuggling. Activists from India approached to Sri Lankan government through an appeal, where they stated the need to strengthen south Asian regional cooperation for all such issues. It was appealed that though crime of any kind must get punishment, but capital punishment must be revoked in this case and in general from all over south Asia. Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Winckramsinghe during an interview to a television channel in March 2015 told 'if Indian fishermen will cross the sea boundary, Sri Lankan navy can shoot them.' This remark sparked controversy over Sri Lanka – India relation. External affairs minister of India raised the issue with meeting her counterpart in Sri Lanka, but the statement of PM of Sri Lanka was condemned by civil rights activists, even open letters were written to PMs of Sri Lanka and India to resolve the dispute and to apologize for statements as fishermen are not criminals.

Development co-operation :

India is active in a number of areas of development activity in Sri Lanka. About one sixth of the total development credit granted by India is made available to Sri Lanka.

In the recent past three lines of credit were extended to Sri Lanka: US$ 100 million for capital goods, consumer durables, consultancy services and food items, US$ 31 million for supply of 300,000 MT of wheat and US$ 150 million for purchase of petroleum products. All of the lines of credit have been fully used. Another line of credit of US$ 100 million is now being made available for rehabilitation of the Colombo-Matara railway.

A number of development projects are implemented under Aid to Sri Lanka funds. In 2006-07, the budget for Aid to Sri Lanka was Rs 28.2 Crs.

A memorandum of understanding on Cooperation in Small Development Projects has been signed. Projects for providing fishing equipment to the fishermen in the East of Sri Lanka and solar energy aided computer education in 25 rural schools in Eastern Sri Lanka are under consideration.

India have supplied medical equipment to hospitals at Hambantota and Point Pedro, supplied 4 state-of-the-art ambulances to the Central Province, implemented a cataract eye surgery programme for 1500 people in the Central Province and implemented a project of renovation of OT at Dickoya hospital and supplying equipment to it.

Other co-operation :

India and Sri Lanka signed an agreement allowing for the transfer of criminals serving prison sentences in the other country to be repatriated to serve the balance of their sentences in their home country. Sentenced persons from Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been transferred under the agreement from Sri Lanka to India. There are areas of cooperation where people to people contacts are focused. Sri Lanka and India has friendly relations through people's support also. It was seen that A. T. Ariyaratne in Sri Lanka helped in spreading non violence and community service activities on Gandhian philosophy.

The China issue :

In recent years Sri Lanka has moved closer to China, especially in terms of naval agreements. India and Sri Lanka in February 2015 signed a nuclear energy deal to improve relationships. Recently elected Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a meeting with recently elected Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena stated that: "India is Sri Lanka's closest neighbor and friend. Our destinies are interlinked."

A new era for India–Sri Lanka relations?

After tense ties during the Rajapaksa administration, newly elected Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena’s decision to visit India on his first overseas trip signifies a renewal in the India–Sri Lanka relationship.

Sirisena and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signed four significant agreements, all of which are expected to play an important role in further strengthening India–Sri Lankan relations. Most importantly, the two countries promised to cooperate on the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Since 2010 the Sri Lankan government has intended to use nuclear energy for medical and agricultural purposes. The recent agreement focuses on knowledge and resource sharing, training in the peaceful use of nuclear energy and cooperation in radioactive waste management and mitigating the potential for disasters.

The two countries also signed an agreement on cultural cooperation. This agreement planned for 2015–18 envisages enhancing cooperation in a variety of fields including performing arts, libraries, archives and documentation, publications and professional exchange.

The fisherman issue between India and Sri Lanka was also discussed during the visit. There have been numerous incidents in the Palk Strait of the Sri Lankan Navy firing on and imprisoning Indian fisherman who use mechanized trawlers and practice illegal fishing methods that destroy Sri Lankan fishing boats. Both leaders pledged a ‘constructive and humanitarian’ approach to resolve the issue which will encourage dialogue between fishermen on both sides.

On the issue of ethnicity, both leaders discussed the efforts of the Sri Lankan government to restore friendly ties with the ethnic Tamil minority. The Sri Lankan government has made little effort so far to restore the trust in Tamil elites after the war with Tamil rebels in 2009. This has led to complaints from the Tamil population in India, who has voiced concerns about the slow progress of reconciliation efforts.

The two governments also signed memorandums on the establishment of Nalanda University, which will allow Sri Lanka to participate in projects at the University, and agriculture cooperation, which will facilitate cooperation in agricultural processing, machinery and farm training. During the previous Sri Lankan administration, mistrust between India and Sri Lanka on regional security increased. Sri Lanka–China relations were strengthened due to increased Chinese infrastructural investment in Sri Lanka and Colombo’s support for a maritime trade route that would permit Chinese submarines to dock along the Sri Lankan coastline. But the recent visit has gone some way to relaying India’s concerns over the changing regional security situation. Discussions on enhancing defense and security cooperation in the existing trilateral format with the Maldives have also helped to rejuvenate a sense of trust between both the countries.

Regionally, India and Sri Lanka both participate in several multilateral organizations such as South Asian association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme, South Asian Economic Union and BIMSTEC. All these organizations aim to enhance their commerce.

In 1998, India and Sri Lanka signed the India–Sri Lanka free trade agreement (ISFTA) which has proved to be a successful initiative. Bilateral trade between both countries was US$4 billion in 2012 and India is now the fourth largest investor in Sri Lanka with an investment of about US$160 million.

While India’s ability to help Sri Lanka address its infrastructure deficit is limited, Modi pushed for greater political and trade linkages.

Working off at the success of ISFTA, both the countries are now trying to negotiate a comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to further enhance links and include other key areas in the agreement. But scepticism by the critics of CEPA has obstructed the negotiations. Modi has promised to take the bilateral relation to a new level and this may help resume the stalled talks on the CEPA. His upcoming visit to Sri Lanka in March is an opportunity for India to further cement the relationship.

Diplomacy has won out during this visit, with four major agreements signed. While the Rajapaksa administration seemed to favour China and Pakistan, the new Sri Lankan government is signaling that India is finally back on its agenda. But amid the pro-China lobby in Sri Lanka, it won’t be an easy task for the Sri Lankan government to lessen Chinese investment influence.

What remains to be seen is how Sirisena will proceed with his ‘balanced foreign policy’ approach to maintain diplomacy with both China and India. India will certainly be watching when he visits China in late-March.