More Symbolism and Less Substance in President’s Visit to India

Courtesy France 24

New Delhi laid out a red carpet welcome for President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is on his first state visit outside the country. The President was ceremoniously welcomed by Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he received a 21-gun salute and inspected a guard of honour presented by the Indian armed forces. 

During his visit, he also met, among others, Indian foreign finance ministers and health ministers. He also visited the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial at Rajghat, where he planted an Ashoka tree to mark the occasion.

Allaying Indian Anxieties

The symbolism of the visit is as important as its substance.   For the JVP, which he hails from, this completes its transformation from runway anti-Indianism of its past, from Wijeweera’s text books on Indian expansionism to violent opposition to Indo-Sri Lanka Peace accord in 1988-89- to a party now in the state power and confronted with foreign policy realism.This is also the beginning of its socialisation in the high politics of foreign policy in the international system. Traditionally, the Sri Lankan Presidents, when elected, ,have made India the first stop of their diplomacy. President Dissanayake followed that tradition. 

In Delhi, the President reassured not to allow “our land to be used in any way in a manner that is detrimental to the interest of India. The cooperation with India will certainly flourish, and I want to reassure our continued support for India.”

This is a commitment that successive Sri Lankan governments have made. However, considering that the JVP/NPP are untested newcomers, such symbolic reassurance will have an added weight. More so, some Indian foreign news commentators, had been harping on JVP’s perceived Marxist bent, which they have pre supposed would be more amenable to Communist China and its historical record during the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord. 

Since these pundits, and not the steller old guard, seem to be the source of foreign policy wisdom to the aspiring Indians, and also due to shared ideological predisposition may have ears of the decision-making circles, President Dissanayake’s reassurances may help alleviate certain Indian anxieties which could otherwise mothball.

Symbolism for India

For New Delhi itself, the symbolism of the visit is not missed. It is a considerable feat in India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ Policy, which has seen strains in the political change in Bangladesh recently and in the election of the government of Mohamed Muizzu in the Maldives previously. The raptures in the latter relationship seemed to have patched up with Muizzu’s state visit to India in October, but the essential Islamist character and worldview of the ruling establishment in the Male would continue to hold reservations about India. Whereas in Sri Lanka, New Delhi now has a more amenable leader, whose amenability may be due to a realistic understanding of Sri Lanka’s economic challenges but also due to suddenly being thrust upon with the supreme political power of the state with little practical experience.

India read the Sri Lankan election better than most of us, including the SJB and UNP pundits, to predict the NPP candidate’s victory. Mr Dissanayake had visited India before the elections at the invitation of Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar. 

If symbolism is the key to the President’s state visit, another element is of greater significance for the new government in Sri Lanka.

By hosting President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on a state visit, New Delhi is legitimising the new administration of Sri Lanka in the international system. One might say elections accord legitimacy. They do, indeed. However, how far and fast it transpires in the international system is a different story. The major international players, with their ideological bias, when hear of a Marxist-leaning President of a small state, are less forthcoming to embrace him. 

However, one perk of being a great power, which India surely is, is the ability to grant international recognition- or rescind it- togenerally less powerful states. This is a practice the United States indulge in quite often.  India, being the preeminent power in the Indian Ocean region, a key ally of the United States and seen as a bulwark against China, has the ability not only to accord recognition, but also to influence ideologically aligned major and small players to do so. One might say the recent invitation to the President by the UAE, a key Indian partner, maybe in line with these developments. In terms of the substance of the visit, it is all about the continuation.The agreed programmes and action plans look like Ranil Wickremesinghe visited New Delhi to preschedule it.
Some areas of cooperation highlighted in the joint statement are as follows:

Building Connectivity

i. While expressing satisfaction at the resumption of the passenger ferry service between Nagapattinam and Kankesanthurai, the leaders agreed that officials should work towards the early recommencement of the passenger ferry service between Rameshwaram and Talaimannar.

ii. Explore the possibility of jointly working on rehabilitation of Kankesanthurai Port in Sri Lanka, which will be implemented with grant assistance from India.

Energy Development

i. Take steps towards the implementation of the solar power project in Sampur and further augment its capacity as per the requirements of Sri Lanka.

ii. Continue consideration of the several proposals which are in different stages of discussion including:

(a) Supply of LNG from India to Sri Lanka.
(b) Establishment of a high-capacity power grid interconnection between India and Sri Lanka.
(c) Cooperation amongst India, Sri Lanka and UAE to implement a multi-product pipeline from India to Sri Lanka for supply of affordable and reliable energy.
(d) Joint development of offshore wind power potential in Palk Straits, while prioritising environmental protection, including fauna and flora.

iv. The development of Trincomalee as a regional energy and industrial hub.

Energy connectivity through pipelines and power grid connectivity has been a key area in recent Indo-Sri Lanka cooperation. The key JVP/NPP leaders at times opposed those proposed measures, citing loss of energy independence. Yet, new responsibilities seem to have mellowed the opposition.

Loss of Domestic Friction 

The Indian policy of the new administration represents the continuation of the past, which is welcoming news. There is probably another reason why the new government could better harness its relations with India than its predecessors.That is the erosion of domestic friction against greater economic and security cooperation with India. One of the major actors of that friction itself of the JVP itself. The other, like Wimal Weerawansa and political opportunists in the Pohottuwa, have been discarded into the dustbin.

That would release the new administration, provided it has control over its own party members, from substantial domestic pressure that always stood on the path of greater cooperation with India.

However, the continuation of the policies of the predecessor is the least one could expect from the new administration. It should view New Delhi as a window of opportunity, more so now that India is expected to be the fastest-growing large economy in the coming decade. It should come out of the shadows of protectionism and link the Sri Lankan economy with India through networks of interdependency.It should seek Indian government assistance to woo world-beating Indian tech companies to open shops in Sri Lanka and enter into the much delayed Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement. It should woo major Indian manufacturing companies and offer land on long-termleases to set up economic zones, similar to the practices adopted by forward-looking emerging economies like Vietnam.

Now that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has taken the first symbolic step forward, he should follow up with more substance, leading to greater economic cooperation and enabling Sri Lanka to benefit from rising prosperity in India. 

He might also have to stop listening to the usual idiots in local chattering classes, whose world view has not changed since the 1960s.

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