Dr. Jai Narayan Vyas
The Ratna Prime Minister congratulated the recently elected President of Sri Lanka, Anura Kumara Dissanayake on Twitter for her victory, saying that Sri Lanka has a special place in India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy and vision. In response to which Anura said that 'We stand with your commitment to further strengthen the cooperation between the two countries. Our cooperation will be in the interest of the citizens of both countries as well as the entire region.' External Affairs Minister of India S. Jayashankar also wished Dissanayake. When Dissanayake visited India in February 2024, hardly anyone would have thought that less than eight months after that visit, the man would be elected President of Sri Lanka. During his visit to India, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar expressed hope that better and warmer bilateral relations will be established between Sri Lanka and India in the near future. Now that Dissanayake has won as the new President of Sri Lanka, let's know a little about him. Dissanayake is the leader of a party called Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP). The party contested the election as part of the National People's Power (NPP) coalition. Dissanayake thus won the Sri Lankan presidential election as the leader of this coalition (NPP). This is a perfect example of how quickly fortunes change in politics. Dissanayake was also a candidate in the 2019 presidential election. At that time he got only three percent of the votes. Dissanayake was elected with 42.31 votes in the first round of the election this time, defeating his nearest rival Sanjiv Premadasa by a comfortable lead. Sanjeev Premadasa got 32.76 percent votes. Dissanayake is considered an ardent opponent of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. At the time of Sri Lanka's severe economic crisis of 2022, he presented himself as a leader against corruption and connected the class including students and employees with him. That's how 'caravans' came to be. Since the time of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Janata Party has been considered a right-leaning political party and this is reflected in its policies. On the other hand, Anura Dissanayake's party is left-wing and is often considered ideologically close to China. Due to this, there are doubts whether Dissanayake will become a challenge for India. A recent example in this regard is that of the Maldives. There, when Mohammad Muizzou, who had won the presidential election with the slogan 'India Out', was elected, his pro-China and anti-India stance had very adverse reactions. Today, however, the attitude of the Maldives has softened considerably and there are signs of improvement in India's relations with the Maldives, with the possibility of the Maldivian President visiting India before the end of this year. Today's world is relatively complex and coalition politics in particular tend to balance all. Dissanayake and his party have been anti-India in the past. Dissanayake's opposition to the Adani Group-run energy project is seen by analysts as an anti-India stance. He has also staged violent anti-India protests many times in the past. Reducing India's influence in Sri Lanka has been his agenda. But in the last few years Dissanayake's statements have become more balanced and he has emphasized good governance, balance and a non-aligned foreign policy. In 2022 there was a coup in Sri Lanka. India's help to Sri Lanka when the Rajapaksa government went and Wickramasinghe came in has also had an impact on Sri Lanka. So it can be assumed that the new President will keep in mind the financial assistance provided by India. However, some also say that Dissanayake has never criticized China as much as he criticizes India, hence his pro-Chinese leanings. However, Sri Lanka is still in economic crisis and given that India is the fifth largest economy in the world today and will become the third largest economy in the near future, harmonious relations with India are more in Sri Lanka's interest. Dissanayake's party JVP will be a moderate party and will not get too close to any country. While we have talked about the relations between Sri Lanka and China so far, we should not forget that today China has become the number one trading partner of India after removing America. India and China trade more than 110 billion dollars. Despite India's large trade deficit with China, despite serious disputes, trade relations between the two have grown and there is no reason to believe that this trend will change in the near future. India will have to learn from the experience of a rough cut in its relationship with the Maldives while falling out with Dissanayake. Even if China and India face each other in the Asia-Pacific geopolitical equation, the importance of Sri Lanka will increase, not decrease. It is not in India's interest that India's neighboring countries go bankrupt, so it would be good for India if Dissanayake brings economic and political stability to Sri Lanka. While the power equations have changed in another neighboring country, Sri Lanka, India has to take special care to ensure that these relations remain balanced, so that Sri Lanka does not lean too much towards China.}
Anura Kumara Dissanayake Born : November 24, 1968 Party : Janata Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) Á Active in politics since 1988 Á Entered Parliament in 2000 as a JVP representative Á First cabinet berth in 2004 as Agriculture Minister
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
