India-Sri Lanka ties: Relations improved in 2016, but China's influence a cause for concern

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s ties with India improved in 2016 with high-level exchanges and signing of agreements to give momentum to their relationship, even as issues over a proposed economic and technology pact, poaching by fishermen in each other’s water and China’s influence in the island nation remained a cause for concern. Historically, bilateral ties have been fraught with controversies. In the 1980s, the Tamil question dominated relations and more recently differences have sometimes erupted over poaching by fishermen and Sri Lanka’s increasing dependence on China for investment. But with a change in government in India and Sri Lanka last year, the ties in 2016 showed signs of maturity, breaking away from the past towards an era of synergy and understanding. One of the defining moments in bilateral ties this year came when Sri Lanka pulled out of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit, which was scheduled in November in Pakistan, after India boycotted the meet over an attack on an Indian army base in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistan-based terrorists. [caption id=“attachment_3170420” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sri Lanka. PIB[/caption] In November, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba visited Colombo during which he attended the Galle Dialogue - a meeting of regional navies at the southern coastal city. The visit was aimed at consolidating bilateral maritime security relations amid an increasingly assertive China in the region. The increasing dependence on China for investment and military aid curtailed Sri Lanka’s ability to limit Beijing’s influence in its economic and maritime policy. China has been keen to push its economic and infrastructure proposals to the Indian Ocean states. India focused on economic consideration to boost ties with Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government too appeared interested in building the country through economic ties with India. During his visit to India in the first week of October, prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said Sri Lanka expected to sign an Economic and Technology Co-operation Agreement (ETCA) with India by the end of this year. Wickremesinghe appeared keen to fast-track the ETCA, given the needs arising from Britain’s decision to leave the 28-member European Union economic bloc. The ETCA advocates believe the pact was an imperative to mitigate the effects of Britain’s exit from the EU. The progress on ETCA has been discouraging, however, and some have doubted the benefits of the agreement. Sri Lanka’s Joint Opposition has said the agreement was an “appeasement” of India, ignoring the greater largesses from China. Opposition legislator, Wimal Weerawansa, said: “With the ETCA, it looks as if the government is keen to help India solve its unemployment problem. They are creating one million jobs for the Indians.” But president Maithripala Sirisena defended his government’s decision to enter into the agreement with India, saying protests against it were “politically motivated.”