Dilrook Kannangara

Anura Kumara and Modi signed a number of agreements and the most significant is their defense pact which is shrouded in mystery. However, nothing remains under wraps in Sri Lanka as news travels fast. Indian media also published its contents in point form. Sri Lanka is now an aligned military partner of India and by extension USA and the QUAD alliance which includes India.

The last time Sri Lanka was not a non-aligned country was in 1950. Anglo-Ceylon Defense Partnership Agreement was signed between Sri Lanka, USA and the UK in 1947 and it lasted until 1955. Until it was cancelled, the Soviet Union vetoed Ceylon’s entry to the UN. Strangely the 1947 defense pact was against India and the 2025 defense pact is with India!

As per the new defense pact with India, Sri Lanka cannot hold join military drills with any country without India’s approval, Sri Lanka cannot host any ship, aircraft or delegation without India’s permission, Sri Lanka cannot allow any other country to invest in the island without Indian sanction and cannot purchase weapons without Indian approval. This will end hostility between Sri Lanka and India and Sri Lanka and the West. USA, EU, UK, Japan and India are Sri Lanka’s largest trading partners and largest loan creditors.

The annual defense drill with Pakistan was cancelled due to Indian disapproval recently and a number of Chinese ships were denied entry to ports in the island for the same reason.

This may turn Sri Lanka’s traditional friends into enemies. Until 2025 Sri Lanka’s only enemy nation was North Korea (since 1971). Now there will be plenty from a military point of view and they will include China, Pakistan and their allies. As Sri Lanka is now part of India as far as military interests go, Sri Lanka is fair game in any confrontation with India. However, China and India are part of a number of Russia-led alliances and they remain mostly peaceful.

There is another side to it. Although most Sri Lankans prefer Sri Lanka to remain non-aligned, there was no good or benefit for Sri Lanka being a non-aligned nation. While Sri Lanka headed the non-aligned movement, another member of the same movement, namely India, trained and armed terrorist groups. Another supporter of the non-aligned movement, the Palestine liberation movement also trained Tamil terrorists. Other key non-alignment movement leaders including Yugoslavia and Burma have ended up committing acts of genocide and are now fragmented. Essentially the non-aligned movement was a tragicomedy and it rightly died. However, Sri Lanka continued to follow a non-aligned foreign policy until now. What is useful is an opportunistic foreign policy that benefits Sri Lanka on a case-by-case basis. However, MoUs with India have made it impossible.

Although the defense deal with India is relatively slightly more beneficial to multiethnic Sri Lanka than detrimental, it is anathema for Sinhala and Muslim interests in the island. It also means India will interfere in future elections in the island and all political parties will compete against one another to become the darling of India. On their part, India and the West will ensure Sri Lanka remains undivided, multiethnic, multi-religious, democratic”, and unitary since Sri Lanka is now very much part of their military apparatus. Sinhala and Muslim interests in the island will be gradually stamped out and they will be replaced by Indian cultural identity to cement the military deal. The need for a Sinhala exclusive nation within part of the island is felt stronger than ever. Unless it is created, the Sinhala nation will also succumb to Indian colonization along with the rest of the island of Sri Lanka.