New Delhi: Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla on Tuesday called on Sri Lankan Foreign Minister GL Peiris, who is on a three-day official visit to New Delhi. Both the leaders discussed ways of boosting relationships in multiple spheres. The visit comes at a time the island nation is facing a severe economic crisis and also when China is flexing its muscles in the region. There is a new twist in the tug of war between India and China over Sri Lanka.
Taking to Twitter, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla called on the visiting Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Prof. GL. Peiris. Discussed strengthening of the relationship in multiple spheres including a people-centric development partnership”.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, Professor Harsh V Pant, Director, Research at Observer Research Foundation (ORF) said, “India’s role in Sri Lanka remains very important and Sri Lanka even under the Rajapaksa regime today is recognizing that over-reliance on China can produce some unintended consequences, which can create the whole host of problems for Sri Lanka”.
“India’s ties with Sri Lanka are evolving rapidly. We always look at the Chinese influence in Sri Lanka with some degree of concern but what is also happening in Sri Lanka, is the awareness that ‘over-dependence’ on ‘China’s economic model’ is detrimental to Sri Lankan interest. Whether it is the fertilizer controversy or the high debt, which is leading to very uncertain times in the Sri Lankan economy, there is a realization that one cannot put all the eggs in the Chinese basket. Sri Lanka needs India as a strong and stable partner. Therefore, the outreach to India has been quite extensive. There have been extensive consultations in the last few months between India and Sri Lanka”, he said.
Read: Shringla holds talk with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister GL Peiris
Prof Pant underlined that Sri Lanka has asked for economic support and India has agreed to provide loans and credits to Sri Lanka, so that they can tide over this crisis. It may be recalled that India also helped the island nation in tiding over the fertilizer crisis, which at one time was very acute. The visit of the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister also comes days after the Sri Lankan government signed a $500 million Line of Credit (LOC) agreement with India for the purchase of petroleum products. The first tranche will be used to buy 80,000 tonnes of petrol and diesel from Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
