'A matter of survival’: In Colombo, incoming CJI urges India, Sri Lanka to be ‘guardians’ of Indian Ocean

Justice Surya Kant, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court of India and soon to be the next Chief Justice of India (CJI), has strongly advocated for the judiciaries of India and Sri Lanka to jointly champion a model of “regional environmental constitutionalism.”

Delivering a keynote address at the Indo-Sri Lanka Policy Dialogue on Advancing Environmental Sustainability in Colombo, Justice Kant asserted that key environmental duties and rights inherently transcend national borders.

Justice Kant said that the historical and cultural bond between the two nations is inseparable from their shared ecology. He dismissed the idea that environmental protection is a diplomatic courtesy, framing it instead as an essential matter of survival.

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“Environmental cooperation between India and Sri Lanka is not a matter of charity or diplomacy—it is a matter of survival… The Bay of Bengal does not divide us; it binds us through a shared ecological fate,” he said.

He detailed the collective threat looming over the Indian Ocean commons, citing severe stress on biodiversity hotspots like the Palk Bay and Gulf of Mannar from overfishing, oil spills, and the severe impacts of climate change, which include saltwater intrusion and microplastic accumulation.

Courts as arbiters of transnational accountability

Highlighting the proactive role already played by the apex courts of both nations, Justice Kant noted that their jurisprudence demonstrates a “converging moral imagination about environmental stewardship.” He argued that this judicial activism is critical given the structural gaps in regional governance.

“In the absence of robust regional institutions, courts become de facto arenas for transnational accountability,” he pointed out, stressing that judicial pronouncements hold the necessary moral authority to compel executive action, drive policy reform, and enforce environmental reporting.

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Justice Kant concluded his address by urging policymakers to embrace the judicial vision that has already demonstrated how justice can be ecological, intergenerational, and regional.

He called upon leaders to: “reimagine the Indo-Sri Lankan partnership not merely as a bilateral relationship but as a collective guardianship of the Indian Ocean commons—where our cooperation is measured not in treaties signed, but in ecosystems restored and communities made resilient.”