Sri Lanka witnessed history on September 22, as the debt-ridden island nation saw unprecedented second round of counting of votes in its presidential elections, in which Marxist-leaning leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake emerged victorious.
Dissanayake, 56, the leader of the Marxist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna party's broader front National People’s Power (NPP), defeated his closest rival Sajith Premadasa of Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) while incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe was eliminated in the first round after he failed to become within the top two in the vote list.
With a new government taking shape at India’s strategic ally Sri Lanka that points out at departure from the island nation’s political establishment and ushers in unparalleled change, what does this mean for India? Let’s dig deep.
Foreign policy: Dissanayake and his party’s stance on India
On foreign policy, Dissanayake faces the challenge of juggling the competing interests of China and India, strategic rivals who’ve been major investors in the island nation. According to some analysts, AKD, by which Dissanayake is popularly known as, may be more likely to favour China given his party’s Marxist roots, although he also paid a visit to New Delhi at the invitation of India’s government earlier this year.
Dissanayake's Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) has been historically known for its anti-India stance.
The party, which criticized the Tamil-origin estate workers from India as an “instrument of Indian expansionism”, had also opposed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on trade that would support greater trade and investment between both countries.
Dissanayake has also opposed any efforts to give back the Katchatheevu island to India and said “it cannot be allowed to succeed at any cost”. New Delhi had also reached out to the JVP and had invited Dissanayake and its party’s delegation for an ‘official tour’ earlier this year.
Meanwhile, Dissanayake’s backers have also called for greater scrutiny of investment deals with China and other nations to avoid future debt traps. He’s previously questioned the government’s trade agreement with China, saying it would undermine Sri Lankan businesses.
Stance on Tamil ethnic minorities
JVP has also opposed any devolution of power to the Tamils, and was also against the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987, signed by then India's Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Dissanayake’s JVP was also against the 13th amendment to Sri Lankan Constitution that created Provincial Councils to grant greater control over land revenue and police in the country's Tamil-dominated North-East.
Dissanayake's anti-federalist party manifesto states that it will ensure "territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country without compromise". The party had approached the Supreme Court against the merger of Northern and Eastern provinces, as promised by the 1987 accord, which led to formal de-merger of those provinces in 2007.
As the minister of agriculture, lands and irrigation, Dissanayake rejected the possibility of post-tsunami aid distribution with the LTTE, and the government withheld large amounts of aid for the North-East.
Backing armed forces
Dissanayake has consistently opposed any attempt at international investigation into the Sri Lankan Army’s war crimes. His party had also supported the Army’s brutal military campaign against LTTE and its leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.
According to Tamil Guardian, Dissanayake called the 2002 ceasefire agreement between LTTE and the Sri Lankan government as “a foundation to establish a separate state in the island”. As part of Mahinda Rajapaksa's coalition, JVP continued to oppose peace negotiations, which culminated in a brutal campaign in 2007.
(With inputs from agencies and media reports)
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