COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated construction work on a solar plant in neighboring Sri Lanka and witnessed the signing of energy and defense agreements seen as efforts to consolidate New Delhi's influence in the debt-stricken island nation.
India has been concerned about China’s increasing presence in Sri Lanka, which is located on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes in what India considers part of its strategic backyard.
Beijing has provided Sri Lanka with billions of dollars in loans for development projects. But Sri Lanka’s economic collapse in 2022 changed the country's priorities and provided an opportunity for India, as New Delhi stepped in with massive financial and material assistance. At the same time, China’s support for restructuring its infrastructure loans is vital for Sri Lanka.
Modi on Saturday held talks with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the two virtually inaugurated construction work on an Indian-funded 120-megawatt solar power plant, which is being built as a joint venture between the two countries.
Sri Lanka faced a severe power shortage in 2022 after being unable to pay for oil and coal to power its electricity plants. It has also set ambitious goals of reducing its dependence on fossil fuel.
Modi welcomed the agreements on defense cooperation and said both sides agreed to work together on security cooperation in the Indian Ocean through a regional grouping called the Colombo Security Conclave, which also includes Bangladesh, Maldives and Mauritius.
“I am grateful to President Dissanayake for his sensitivity towards India’s interests. We believe that we have shared security interests. The security of both countries is interconnected and co-dependent,” Modi said.
He said India has a special place for Sri Lanka in its “Neighbourhood First Policy” and has fulfilled its duties as a truly friendly neighbour when Sri Lanka was in difficulty.
Modi was awarded “Sri Lanka Mitra Vibhushana,” the highest award presented to a foreign leader.
Dissanayake said that he reiterated during talks with Modi that Sri Lanka’s territory will not be used for any acts that could harm India’s security and as well as the stability of the region.
China plans to build a $3.7 billion oil refinery near Hambantota port, which was taken over by Beijing after Sri Lanka failed to pay back the loan to develop the port. It gives China a key foothold in the country directly opposite India’s coastline.
Both India and China have separately agreed on terms with Sri Lanka for restructuring its debt, which would enable the country to come out from bankruptcy and rebuild the tattered economy.
While the agreements were being signed, hundreds of protesters gathered opposite the capital Colombo’s main rail station, claiming the agreements were a betrayal of the country to Indian domination.
Frontline Socialist Party, a radical splinter party of Dissanayake’s People’s Liberation Front, accused the president of backing down from his original stand on India. The leader of the party, Kumar Gunaratnam, said India had never been a genuine friend of Sri Lanka.
Dissanayake’s party took up arms against a 1987 peace agreement between India and Sri Lanka but has since moderated its policy on its giant neighbor.
India, which has its own sizable Tamil population, intervened in 1987 and signed an agreement with Sri Lanka to resolve Sri Lanka's civil conflict. Some Tamil armed groups accepted the deal, the Tamil Tigers, the largest group, rejected it and continued to fight for separation. Government troops crushed the Tamil Tigers in 2009, and since then the government has faced international pressure to resolve the power-sharing issue through talks.
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Associated Press photographer Eranga Jayawardena contributed to this report.
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