Gotabaya Rajapaksa – Impact On India Sri Lanka Relations

Table of Contents

Rajapaksa conducted a nationalist campaign with a promise of security and a vow to crush religious extremism in the Buddhist-majority country.
April 21 – Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks which killed 259 blamed on a home-grown jihadi group.
Gotabaya is adored by the Sinhalese majority and the powerful Buddhist clergy

The Terminator

Gotabaya Rajapaksa is popular for how he, as a defence secretary in his brother Mahinda’s government , was instrumental ended the civil war in 2009.
He has been accused of torture and abduction of rebels and civilians, including journalists and rights activists during the civil war .
40,000 Tamil civilians perished at the hands of the army.
A sense of alarm in Sri Lanka’s Tamil and Muslim minorities.
“Although I knew I would be voted in by the Sinhala Buddhists, I expected the Tamils and Muslims to also be part of my victory. But my expectations were not met. Yet, as your new president I request you again to join hands with me for the future development of this country”

Mahinda Rajapaksa drifted closer to Beijing in the final years of his presidency.
His tenure was marked by a shift in Sri Lanka’s foreign relations, as the nation drifted away from India’s sphere of influence and into China’s.
Sri Lanka borrowed heavily from China – There was large scale infusion of Chinese money through various infrastructure projects.
The govt. even allowed two Chinese submarines to dock in Colombo in 2014, alarming s India and western nations too.

A quarter of Sri Lanka’s foreign debt, which stands at 45 per cent of GDP, is owed to China.
Among the projects built using Chinese financing are the now-infamous deep water port and airport in Hambantota.
The Sirisena government in 2017 was forced to hand over control of the Hambantota port to China as part of a debtfor-equity swap.

In his first speech as president after being sworn-in on Monday, president Rajapaksa stated that he would follow a “equidistant” foreign policy, which would allow Sri Lanka to remain neutral in great power games.
“We intend to be friendly with each and every country. We do not wish to be caught in geopolitical power plays between global powers”

Mr. Modi was among the first international leaders to congratulate Mr. Gotabaya, on Twitter and on the phone, after his decisive victory in the November 16 election.
Replying to Mr. Modi on Twitter, Mr. Gotabaya said he looked forward to meeting him in “the near future”.
MEA stated that the new Sri Lankan leader was ready to “to work with India very closely to ensure development and security”, as per the two leaders’ phone call.

India’s security interests in Indian ocean will not be overlooked.
Chinese financial help will be sought but the SL govt. will be wary of debt traps like in the past.
India can be a partner to co-operate in action against extremist Islamic groups.