Brief
on India - Sri Lanka Relations
India and Sri Lanka have a
legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction and the
relationship between two countries is more than 2500 years old. Trade and
investment have grown and there is cooperation in the fields of development,
education, culture and defence. Both countries share a broad understanding on
major issues of international interest. In recent years, significant progress
in implementation of developmental assistance projects for Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs) and disadvantaged sections of the population in Sri Lanka has
helped further cement the bonds of friendship .
The nearly three-decade long
armed conflict between Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE came to an end in May
2009. During the course of the conflict, India supported the right of the
Government of Sri Lanka to act against terrorist forces. At the same time, it
conveyed its deep concern at the plight of the civilian population, emphasizing
that their rights and welfare should not get enmeshed in hostilities against
the LTTE.
The need for national
reconciliation through a political settlement of the ethnic issue has been
reiterated by India at the highest levels. India is in favor of a negotiated
political settlement, which is acceptable to all communities within the
framework of a united Sri Lanka and which is consistent with democracy,
pluralism and respect for human rights.
Political Relations
Political relations between the
two countries have been marked by high-level exchanges of visits at regular
intervals.
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa visited India from 28-30
November 2019 in his first overseas trip as President and held bilateral
discussions with Hon’ble Rashtrapatiji, Prime Minister, External Affairs
Minister and NSA. Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa is scheduled to
visit India from 8-11 January 2020. External Affairs Minister Dr. S.Jaishankar
visited Sri Lanka on 19 November 2019 and held bilateral talks with President
Gotabaya Rajapaksa, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and then Leader
of Opposition Mahinda Rajapaksa. Sri Lankan Foreign Relations Minister Dinesh
Gunawardena undertook his first official visit overseas since assuming the
office, to India from 9- 10 January 2020. NSA Ajit Doval visited Sri Lanka on 18 January 2020
and held discussions with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi visited Sri Lanka on 13-14 March, 2015. He travelled to Anuradhapura,
Talaimannar, and Jaffna. Prime Minister again visited Sri Lanka on 11-12 May
2017 as the Chief Guest to attend the International Day of Vesak celebrations
in Sri Lanka. During the visit, he dedicated Dickoya hospital, addressed a
gathering in Norwood’s ground and took blessings at Sri Dalada Maligawa temple
in Kandy. Prime Minister on 9 June 2019 arrived in Sri Lanka for a short visit
to express solidarity with people of Sri Lanka after Easter Sunday attacks.
During his visit, Prime Minister paid tributes to the victims of Easter attacks
at St. Anthony’s Church, Kochchikade and held discussions with former President
Maithripala Sirisena, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition
leader Mahinda Rajapaksa and TNA leader R Sampanthan.
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya led a
multi-party Parliamentary delegation to India in September 2018.
Former President Maithripala Sirisena and former Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe chose India for their first official overseas visit after
assuming charge (in February 2015 and September 2015 respectively). Besides the
above, former President Maithripala Sirisena made five visits (May 2016 – to
attend the valedictory session of the Simhastha Kumbh Mela in Ujjain, visited
Sanchi, unveiled a statue of Anagarika Dharmapala; October 2016 - BRICS-BIMSTEC
Outreach Summit in Goa; November 2016 - WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco
Control; March 2018 – Founding Conference of International Solar Alliance) and
on 30th May 2019- to attend the swearing in ceremony of PM
Narendra Modi.
Former Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe made four (October 2016 – to attend the India Economic Summit;
April 2017 – Working Visit, MoU on Cooperation in Economic Projects signed;
November 2017– to attend Global Conference on Cyber Space and October 2018-
official visit) visits.
Former President and Leader of
Opposition and current Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa visited New Delhi from
10-13 September 2018 to address a private event and called on Prime Minister.
He again visited Bangalore from 8-13 February 2019 to deliver speech at the
event organized by The Hindu newspaper. There are regular Ministerial visits
from Sri Lanka to India.
Smt. Sumithra Mahajan, former Speaker of Lok Sabha visited
Colombo from 02-07 October 2017 to attend a special parliamentary Session in
celebration of 70th Anniversary of the
establishment of Parliament of Sri Lanka on 03 October 2017 and to attend 8th
Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians. Former
External Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj led an inter-ministerial
delegation to Colombo from 5-6 February 2016 for the 9th Session of the
India-Sri Lanka Joint Commission. Earlier, Former External Affairs Minister
Smt. Sushma Swaraj was in Colombo on 6-7 March 2015 to prepare for Prime
Minister’s visit. Former EAM visited Sri Lanka from 31 August-01 September 2017
to attend the second Indian Ocean Conference organized in Colombo.
Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad,
Minister of Law and Justice and Electronics & Information Technology
visited Sri Lanka from 14-17 January, 2018. A MoU for Cooperation in IT &
Electronics was signed. Sri Lanka also joined the National Knowledge
Network (NKN), being the first SAARC country to do so. A pilot program on
E-Office, developed by NIC was also launched, wherein the first eGov
documentation was digitally signed for the first time in Sri Lankan public
sector. He again visited Sri Lanka from 5-7 November 2019 to attend the
Commonwealth Law Ministers meeting held in Colombo. During the visit, he called
on former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
Former Commerce and Industry Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman visited
Sri Lanka on 26-27 September 2016.Minister of State for External Affairs Gen. V. K.
Singh (Retd) visited Colombo on August 2016 to participate in the fifth
Ministerial Meeting of the Colombo Process
On 05 May 2017, Former President
Sirisena joined other leaders from South Asian countries through video
conferencing after the launch of South Asia satellite, which is gifted by India
to South Asian countries.
Commercial Relations
Sri Lanka has long been a
priority destination for direct investment from India. Sri Lanka is one of
India’s largest trading partners in SAARC. Trade between the two countries grew
particularly rapidly after the entry into force of the India-Sri Lanka Free
Trade Agreement in March 2000. According to Sri Lankan Customs, bilateral trade
during January – November 2019 amounted to USD 4.19 billion. During this period
exports from India to Sri Lanka were USD 3.49 billion, while exports from Sri
Lanka to India were USD 0.70 billion. The main items of exports from Sri Lanka
to India are: Base Oil, Poultry feeds, Areca nuts, (waste and scrap) paper or
paperboard, Pepper, Ignition Wiring Sets, Copper wire, Marble, travertine and
alabaster. Main items of Imports from India to Sri Lanka are: Gas oil/ Diesel,
Motorcycles, Pharmaceutical Products, Portland cement, Semi finished products
of Iron, Military weapon, Fuel oil, Rice, Cement clinkers, Kerosene Type jet
Fuel.
India is one of the largest
investors in Sri Lanka with cumulative investments of around USD 1.239 billion.
The investments are in diverse areas including petroleum retail, IT, financial
services, real estate, telecommunication, hospitality & tourism, banking
and food processing (tea & fruit juices), copper and other metal
industries), tires, cement, glass manufacturing, and infrastructure
development (railway, power, water supply).
Last few years have also
witnessed an increasing trend of Sri Lankan investments into India. Significant
examples include Brandix (about US$ 1 billion to set up a garment city in
Visakhapatnam), MAS holdings, John Keels, Hayley’s, and Aitken Spence (Hotels),
apart from other investments in the freight servicing and logistics sector.
There are healthy linkages between the business chambers of the two countries.
Various Indian Chambers have signed MOU’s with Sri Lankan Chambers to promote
trade and economic relations, investments between India and Sri-Lanka. Indian
Chambers also participate extensively in the various trade fairs organized in
Sri Lanka.
Development Cooperation:
Sri Lanka is among the major
recipients of development assistance from the Government of India. India’s
overall commitment stands close to US$ 3.45 billion, out of which around US$
560 million are purely in grants.
The Indian Housing Project, with
an initial commitment to build 50,000 houses for the war affected as well as
the estate workers in the plantation areas, is Government of India (GoI)’s
flagship project of developmental assistance to Sri Lanka. With an overall
commitment of over Indian rupees (INR) 1372 crore in grants, it is one of the
largest projects undertaken by GoI abroad. As of today, all the committed
46,000 houses in the Northern and Eastern Provinces have been completed. Out of
the remaining 4000 houses, construction work has begun in the Central and Uva
provinces for IOTs under the third phase. Among these construction of 1000
houses were completed and the first lot was handed over at a ceremony attended
by former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on 12 August 2018, in which Prime
Minister Narendra Modi joined through video message. As on date, close to 2300
houses have been completed in the third phase and construction of the remaining
houses is currently underway. On 12 August 2018 a Letter of Exchange for the
construction of additional 10,000 houses for the Plantation Community that was
announced during Prime Minister’s visit in May 2017 was also signed. In
addition close to 3000 houses are being built under the model village housing
program, taking the total number of houses being built by India in Sri Lanka to
63000.
Besides housing, India continues
to assist in a large number of High Impact Community Development Projects in
areas of education, health, transport connectivity, small and medium enterprise
development and training across the country under grant assistance. Completed
projects during the year include provision of livelihood assistance to nearly
70,000 people from fishing and farming community in Hambantota, supply of
medical equipment to Vavuniya Hospital and 150 Boats and Fishing gear for
Mullaithivu fishermen. A modern 1500 - seat auditorium named after Rabindranath
Tagore in Ruhuna University, Matara, the largest in any University in Sri Lanka
was also handed over in October 2018. On 15 January 2020 at a special event in
Jaffna newly built buildings for 5 schools with Indian assistance were handed
over to beneficiaries.
Work on construction of 153
houses in Sobitha Thero Village in Anuradhapura, upgradation of Saraswathy
Central College in Pusselawa, Kandy; construction of 600 houses under Model
Village Housing Project in 25 districts of Sri Lanka and Gram-Shakti Housing
Project to construct 600 houses in Southern Province of Sri Lanka, trilingual
school in Polonnaruwa, construction of 5000 MT cold storage in Dambulla and construction
of 600 houses each in Northern and Southern Provinces are progressing well.
Memoranda of Understandings for new SDPs viz. construction of 3400 toilets in
Batticaloa, Construction of 300 Transit housing units in Mannar and
establishment of IT incubation center in the North have been signed.
The launch of islandwide
operations of the 1990 Emergency Ambulance Service in Sri Lanka,
financed under Indian grant assistance, was held in Jaffna on 21 July 2018
wherein Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined former Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe through a live video link from New Delhi. The Service which
was initially launched in July 2016 in Western and Southern Provinces of Sri
Lanka under an Indian grant assistance of around US$ 7.56 million (88
ambulances), was expanded to all Provinces in Sri Lanka, under an Indian grant
of US$ 15.02 million. The grant covers procurement of 209 additional
ambulances, training costs, as well as operational costs for one year.
During President Gotabaya
Rajapaksa’s visit in November 2019, PM Narendra Modi announced a line of credit
of USD 400 million for development projects and USD 50 million for security and
counter terrorism. Under a US$ 318 million Indian Line of Credit (LoC)
Agreement signed between EXIM bank of India and Government of Sri Lanka in June
2017, a contract agreement for around US$ 82.64 million for the supply of 160
passenger coaches to Sri Lanka Railways was signed between RITES Limited and
Government of Sri Lanka in Colombo on 7 September 2018. Other projects
identified under this Line of Credit have also made progress. India announced a
new US$ 100 million LoC for undertaking solar projects in Sri Lanka during the
Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance held on 11 March 2018,
in which former President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena participated. A
contract agreement worth USD 91.26 million under Indian concessional financing
was signed between IRCON international limited and GoSL on 18 July 2019 for
upgrading of Maho to Omanthai railway line.
Cultural relations:
The Cultural Cooperation
Agreement signed by the Government of India and the Government of Sri Lanka on
29 November, 1977 at New Delhi forms the basis for periodic Cultural Exchange
Programmes between the two countries. The Indian Cultural Centre in Colombo
actively promotes awareness of Indian culture by offering classes in Indian
music, dance, Hindi and Yoga. On 21 June 2015 the First International Day of
Yoga was celebrated at the iconic ocean side promenade Galle Face Green. The
event was attended by two thousand yoga enthusiasts. In 2016, a similar event
was organized at Mahavihara Devi Park to celebrate International Day of
Yoga. Third and fourth International Day of Yoga (IDY) was celebrated at
iconic Independence Square in Colombo with participation of former President of
Sri Lanka, H. E. Maithripala Sirisena. Fifth IDY was celebrated at Independence
Square with participation of then Ministers and MPs and thousands of yoga
enthusiasts. Sacred relics from Sarnath were brought to Sri Lanka for the Vesak
exposition organized from 29 April to 2 May 2018.
As a part of Commencement of 150th Birth Anniversary
Celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi in Sri Lanka, following events were organized on
2nd October:
A special Video created by Mission
“Vaishnav Jana To”, bhajan sung by popular Sri Lankan artists – Bathia,
Santhush and Umaria was launched by President of Sri Lanka.
Release
of Special commemorative postal stamps on Gandhiji by the Prime Minister of Sri
Lanka.
Launch
by Speaker of Sri Lanka Parliament Karu Jayasuriya of a well-researched book in
Sinhala on Mahatma Gandhi’s visit to Sri Lanka, written by veteran journalist
Mr. Sampath Bandara.
A
special musical performance “Symphony One” by the Violin Maestro Dr. L.
Subramaniam and the National Leipaja Latvian Philharmonic Orchestra.
Iconic
Colombo Municipal Town Hall was lit with special LED lights to showcase
Gandhiji’s images.
On 150th Birth Anniversary of
Mahatma Gandhi following events were organized in 2019-
On 1 October a special floral
tribute programme was held at Presidential Secretariat where former President
Maithripala Sirisena and High Commissioner graced the occasion.
On 2 October former Prime
Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and High Commissioner unveiled a bronze bust of
Gandhiji at Temple Trees (official residence of Sri Lankan Prime Minister).
During the occasion two commemorative postal stamps on Mahatma Gandhi issued by
Sri Lankan Post were also released by former Prime Minister Ranil
Wickremesinghe and High Commissioner.
A Mahatma Gandhi Oration titled
“Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in Contemporary Times” by Sri Lanka Supreme Court
Justice S Thurairaja was held at BCIS, Colombo with Speaker Karu Jayasuriya as
the chief guest.
550th Anniversary of Guru Nanak
Dev was celebrated on 9 November 2019 at Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center.
During the event there was a document screening and a Kirtan by Gyanji from
Guru Nanak Darbar Guruduwara, Colombo.
The India-Sri Lanka Foundation,
set up in December 1998 as an intergovernmental initiative, also aims towards
enhancement of scientific, technical, educational and cultural cooperation
through civil society exchanges and enhancing contact between the younger
generations of the two countries.
People to people contact:
To further strengthen
people-to-people ties, the first ever pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya for Sri Lankan
Armed Forces personnel and their families was organized from 24-26 June 2018. A
special Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft was deployed to Colombo to transport 160
Armed Forces personnel and their families to Bodh Gaya and back. The second
pilgrimage visit to Bodh Gaya was organized by India on June 2019 for Sri
Lankan Armed forces and their families and for the first time Indian contingent
arrived in Sri Lanka to visit Sri Lankan sites. A 55 member delegation from
Mahabodhi Society of India visited prominent Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka during
the last week of June 2018. During Prime Minister’s visit to Colombo on 12 May
2017, he announced that Air India will operate direct flights between Varanasi
and Colombo and inaugural flight was flagged off on 4 August 2017. On 17
October 2019, Jaffna International Airport (JIA) was inaugurated by former
President Maithripala Sirisena and the inaugural flight from Chennai operated
by Alliance Air landed in JIA to mark the occasion. On 11 November 2019
Alliance Air started regular service between Jaffna and Chennai.
Tourism also forms an important
link between India and Sri Lanka. Government of India formally launched the
e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme for Sri Lankan tourists on 14 April 2015.
Subsequently, in a goodwill gesture, the visa fee for eTV was sharply reduced.
In 2019, out of the total 1.91 million tourists, 355,000 tourists arrived from
India. Sri Lankan tourists too are among the top ten sources for the Indian
tourism market. The tourism sector of Sri Lanka which was severely hit by
Easter Sunday attacks received a boost by the arrival of Indian tourists. On 24
July 2019 Sri Lanka included India in the free visa on arrival scheme and commenced
the scheme on 1 August 2019.
Human resource development:
India now offers about 710
scholarship slots annually to Sri Lankan students, including study in Sri Lanka
and in India. In addition, under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation
Scheme and the Colombo Plan, India offers 400 slots annually to Sri Lankan
nationals for short and medium term training courses in a wide variety of
technical and professional disciplines. From the academic session 2017-18, Sri
Lankan students can also appear for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test
(NEET) in centers in India for MBBS/BDS admissions. IIT JEE (Advanced) entrance
examinations have commenced in Sri Lanka from 2017.
Fishermen issue
Given the proximity of the
territorial waters of both countries, especially in the Palk Straits and the
Gulf of Mannar, incidents of straying of fishermen are common. Both countries
have agreed on certain practical arrangements to deal with the issue of bona
fide fishermen of either side inadvertently crossing the International Maritime
Boundary Line. Through these arrangements, it has been possible to deal with
the issue of detention of fishermen in a humane manner. India and Sri Lanka
have agreed to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Fisheries between the
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare of India and Ministry of Fisheries
and Aquatic Resources Development of Sri Lanka as the mechanism to help find a
permanent solution to the fishermen issue.
So far two meetings at
Ministerial level (January 2017 in Colombo & October 2017 in New Delhi) and
three rounds of JWG meetings (December 31, 2016 in New Delhi; April 7, 2017 in
Colombo and October 2017 in New Delhi). The delegation from both sides
deliberated on the fisheries issue including co-operation on patrolling,
setting up of a Hotline between two Coast Guards, introduction of effective
tracking systems for fishing vessels, release of Indian boats in Sri Lankan
custody, SOPs for release and handing over of arrested fishermen and measures
to phase out bottom trawling in Palk Bay. Another instrument to encourage an
amicable solution has been fishermen association level talks, overseen by both
Governments. Three rounds of meetings were held in 2014-15.During the visit of
Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to India in November 2019 ,he announced
that Sri lanka would release all the fishing boats under their custody.
Indian Community
The People of Indian Origin
(PIOs) comprise Sindhis, Borahs, Gujaratis, Memons, Parsis, Malayalis and
Telugu speaking persons who have settled down in Sri Lanka (most of them after
partition) and are engaged in various business ventures. Though their numbers
(10,000 approximately) are lesser compared to Indian Origin Tamils (IOTs), they
are economically prosperous and are well placed. Each of these communities have
their organization which organizes festivals and cultural events. According to
unofficial statistics, it is estimated that around 14,000 Indian expatriates
are living in Sri Lanka.
The IOTs are mostly employed in
either tea or rubber plantations in Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa Provinces though
during the last decade, the younger generation have been migrating to Colombo
in search of employment. A fair number of IOTs living in Colombo are engaged in
business. According to Government census figures (2011), the population of IOTs
is about 1.6 million.
