Dissanayake As New President Of Sri Lanka: What It Holds For India

With Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power alliance taking oath as the new President of Sri Lanka, New Delhi is faced with the prospect of dealing with a new leadership in another country in the neighbourhood. What will a Dissanayake presidency mean for India?

New Delhi:Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the National People’s Power (NPP) alliance took oath as the new president of Sri Lanka in a simple ceremony at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo on Monday.

Dissanayake received over 5.7 million votes or 42.3 percent of the total votes leading his nearest rival Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) by over a million votes. Incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was running as an independent candidate, was at a distant third having received just around 2.3 million votes or 17.3 percent of the total votes.

Though a veteran politician, 55-year-old Dissanayake, popularly known as AKD, became the President of the Indian Ocean island nation for the first time.

Dissanayake was born on November 24, 1968, in the village of Thambuthegama in the Anuradhapura District, North Central Province, Sri Lanka. His father was a labourer and his mother was a housewife. Dissanayake received his education at the Thambuthegama Gamini Maha Vidyalaya and the Thambuthegama Central College, becoming the first student from the college to gain university entrance.

He issanayake joined the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or (JVP), a Marxist-Leninist party of Sri Lanka, in 1987, becoming active in student politics. He engaged in full-time political activities from 1987, with the onset of the 1987–1989 JVP insurrection. He entered the University of Peradeniya and left a few months later due to threats. He transferred to the University of Kelaniya a year later in 1992 and graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in physical science.

He joined the JVP politburo in 1995. He was first elected to Parliament in 2000 as a member of the JVP and has been a vocal critic of corruption, economic mismanagement, and the political establishment since then. His speeches often focus on the struggles of the working class, the rural poor, and the need for systemic reforms in Sri Lanka’s economic and political structures.

In 2004, the JVP allied with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), contesting as a part of the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in the 2004 parliamentary elections and winning 39 seats in the parliament. Dissanayake was elected to parliament from the Kurunegala District from the UPFA and was appointed by then President Chandrika Kumaranatunga as Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation in the joint SLFP–JVP government in February 2004.

He resigned his ministerial portfolio on June 16, 2005, with the other JVP ministers, following JVP leader Somawansa Amerasinghe’s decision to quit the United People’s Freedom Alliance in opposition to President Kumaranatunga government’s controversial joint mechanism with the LTTE for tsunami relief coordination in the North and East provinces. He served as Chief Opposition Whip from September 2015 to December 2018.

Dissanayake took over the leadership of the JVP after the death of Amarasinghe, the former leader, due to a heart attack in 2014. Under Dissanayake’s leadership, the JVP shifted further towards democratic socialism, focusing on issues like good governance, human rights, anti-corruption, and poverty alleviation.

In 2019, Dissanayake formed the NPP, a socialist and social democratic political alliance in Sri Lanka. It consists of the JVP and several other Left-leaning political parties, trade unions, civil society organisations, and individuals who share a vision for a more egalitarian Sri Lanka. The NPP’s primary aim is to present a credible alternative to the two main political parties in Sri Lanka - the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) and the United National Party (UNP).

Dissanayake is known for his fiery speeches in parliament, where he regularly takes on the government over issues such as corruption, human rights violations, and economic mismanagement. He has been a key voice in criticising the nepotism and family-based politics that have long dominated Sri Lankan governance. His ability to speak directly to the concerns of ordinary Sri Lankans has made him a popular figure among the youth and working-class voters.

One of his most significant criticisms has been of the Rajapaksa family, which has dominated Sri Lankan politics for decades. Dissanayake has consistently called for an end to authoritarian governance and the establishment of democratic norms and accountability in the country’s political system.

In the 2019 presidential election, Dissanayake ran as the candidate of the NPP, although he did not win, securing a modest share of the vote. His candidacy, however, helped solidify the NPP as a growing political force.

In the 2020 parliamentary elections, the NPP gained further momentum, increasing its share of seats in parliament. Although it did not emerge as a major player in terms of seat count, the NPP’s message resonated with an increasing number of Sri Lankans disillusioned with the mainstream political parties.

So, what does Dissanayake’s election as president hold for India?

The India-Sri Lanka relationship has traditionally been marked by bonhomie and a legacy of cultural, religious and linguistic interaction. Trade and investment have grown and there is cooperation in the fields of development, education, culture and defence.

Sri Lanka is one of India’s major development partners and this partnership has been an important pillar of bilateral ties between the two countries over the years. With grants alone amounting to around $570 million, the overall commitment by the Government of India is to the tune of more than $3.5 billion. Demand-driven and people-centric nature of India’s development partnership with Sri Lanka has been the cornerstone of this relationship. Grant projects cut across sectors such as education, health, livelihood, housing, industrial development.

When Sri Lanka was faced with an unprecedented economic crisis in 2022, India provided around $4 billion worth of aid. India also played a crucial role in collaborating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and creditors to help Sri Lanka restructure its debt.

Located close to India’s southern coast, Sri Lanka is of huge geostrategic importance for India. India has been expressing concerns about China’s growing economic and strategic influence on Sri Lanka, including Chinese investments in infrastructure projects and the development of the Hambantota Port. India has been trying to keep China away from a region New Delhi sees as to be under its sphere of influence.

That Dissanayake is a dark horse emerging in the Sri Lankan political landscape, India had gauged correctly ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

In February this year, at the invitation of the Indian government, Dissanayake led an NPP delegation on a five-day three-city visit to India covering New Delhi, Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram. During the course of the visit, Dissanayake met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and other Indian leaders.

Then again, when Doval visited Sri Lanka last month to attend the Colombo Security Conclave, he held another meeting with Dissanayake apart from meeting other prominent presidential candidates. It is in light of this that it will be interesting to see what approach Dissanayake takes towards India in his government’s foreign policy.